With 43 crews entered for the time trials of the Bea Langridge Trophy for junior coxless quads, it is sure to be a highly anticipated event. Following the results of those regattas which have gone ahead already this season, including National Schools’ Regatta, Marlow Regatta and Met Regatta, the crews have had a chance to size up their competition and prepare themselves for a weekend of tight racing. After only a handful of events having been authorised to go ahead this summer, crews have not had as much practice as they would have in the past, but nonetheless I expect both standards of racing and stakes of competition to be higher than ever.
Shiplake College
Given their recent racing history it looks as though Oakes’ crew is the one to beat in this event. The crew won the WJ18 4x- event at Marlow Regatta and were also victorious at National Schools’ Regatta, where they took first place in the A final of the championship coxless quad. Interestingly, the club has not had any presence in either event for junior quads at Henley Women’s over the past few years, with Henley taking the win in 2018 and Tideway Scullers tasting victory in 2019, but it seems that they are certainly in with more than just a slim chance to win the event this year.
Marlow RC
Marlow is also looking very strong on paper. Having lost out on the top spot to Shiplake at both Marlow Regatta and NSR I expect that there is going to be plenty of rivalry between these two crews next weekend. Nevertheless, second place in the WJ18 4x- at Marlow and Ch 4x- at NSR are still two very impressive results, which are backed up by a second place in the W4x- final at Met Regatta too. I’d imagine that this crew will be giving it their all in the hope to finally displace Shiplake from the top spot.
Sir William Perkin’s School
Sir William Perkin’s School has also got some impressive results under their belt. SWP alumni includes GB rower Hattie Taylor who has been selected to compete at Tokyo this summer, and given the club’s aim of producing one top quad which will be capable of racing at Henley Royal and the championship events at NSR it is clear that their expectations of their top crews are very high. O’Donnell’s crew came 2nd in the C final of championship coxless quads at NSR this year and 2nd in the B final of WJ18 4x- at Marlow Regatta. They have also had strong performances from across the squad at other events including the Junior Sculling Regatta this season. Though SWP has entered two crews for this event, I think it unlikely that they will be reaching the top spots given the incredibly strong performances of competitors, but I don’t doubt that they will race well.
Henley RC
Following their victory in this event in 2018, Henley’s performance seems to have cooled off a little recently. At NSR the crew – in which Cookson and O’Donohue raced – came 6th in the A Final of the championship quads, a result which, compared with their streak of wins in 2019, 2018 and 2017, seems somewhat disappointing. The crew didn’t make the A final of the coxless quads at Met Regatta, instead racing in the B final. However, given the fact that they will be racing on home turf, it will be interesting to see whether they are able to secure themselves a better result next weekend.
Wallingford RC
Wallingford have also performed well this season. At Marlow Regatta, White and her crew took third place in the WJ18 4x-, with 4th place in the coxless quad at Met Regatta. At NSR, the crew made it into the A final, taking 5th place overall in the girls championship quads. They seem to have built a strong foundation this season, so I expect them to place well in this event.
Hartpury College
Hartpury are a performance centre for rowing, priding themselves on being able to produce the next level of international athletes. At NSR Jones’ crew came fifth in the B final of the championship quads. The crew also came 7th in the women’s quads at Met Regatta and 3rd in the A final at Marlow Regatta, all of which are decent performances.
Wycliffe Junior RC
At Marlow Regatta, Wycliffe’s A boat came 4th in the B final whilst their B crew – also entered for this event – made it into the A final, taking 5th place. Fielder’s crew did well at Met Regatta, coming in 5th place in the women’s quads event in which they were up against crews including Leander and Reading University. At NSR the crew took 4th place in the A final of coxless quads, demonstrating a very strong performance. It will be interesting to see which out of the Wycliffe crews does better following the results at Marlow.
It seems that a different cohort of clubs than usual are lined up for the top spots this year. Based on results from recent regattas, it seems as though Shiplake are gunning for first place, with Marlow and Wycliffe also in with a chance to medal. Following such a difficult year characterised by uncertainty and lack of opportunities to race, I’m excited to see how this event pans out.
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