Year after year Henley Women’s Regatta delivers three days of brilliant racing from a plethora of club and school crews from across the globe and Judging from the calibre of the crews in this quad category, I’m sure this year will be no exception. HWR benefits the iconic 1500m stretch of water and this always spurs crews to perform at the top of their game. Adding to the pressure in this particular race is the looming battle for the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup at Henley Royal in a few weeks’ time. So, with all that in mind, here are the crews to watch.
Henley
This Henley crew stands out as the one to beat with impressive wins at National Schools and Metropolitan Regatta. Last year, Henley crews won both this event and the J16 equivalent. With all of that in mind, this crew is has to be the one to beat.
Tideway Scullers
Right behind Henley for most of the season has been this Tideway crew. They came a respectable 5th at National Schools and came 2nd at Metropolitan Regatta more recently. I’m sure that they will be looking to move out of this 2nd place position and into the winning one again, if they can push themselves that little bit harder then they will be good competition for the top spot.
Latymer Upper School
This is another club that has an excellent reputation in these events and has last year’s final defeat to Henley to avenge. This particular crew though, has had a mixed season. At National Schools they could only manage 2nd in the B final. Their finish time there was good and at Wallingford, Latymer crews bagged both the 4th and 5th spots in the Women’s Quad category. This form suggests that they are at least in the running here.
Marlow
This Marlow crew also has a good club reputation behind them, their predecessors made it to the final of the Diamond Jubilee at HRR last year and it looks as if this crew is ready to follow in their footsteps. They have managed to improve on their National Schools B final win, with 3rd places at Wallingford and at Met Regatta. I hope this crew can improve again and be up there fighting for the win.
Lea
This Lea crew have had a solid season so far, with a 4th at the National Scullery, a 6th at National Schools and most recently a very good 2nd place in the Junior Quad category at Wallingford. This shows that they have the potential to be a contender and I hope they can prove this at HWR.
From the rest of this very strong field, it is worth mentioning the crews from Shrewsbury School, the Headington crew which came 3rd at National Schools, the Gloucester Hartpury crew that came just behind Headington at National Schools and lastly the crew from Putney High School.
Predictions
I am hoping that this will be an event full of close and exciting racing, especially since a lot of these top crews will have raced against each other frequently throughout the season. However, I think Henley might just do enough to snatch the win.
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