Henley Women’s Regatta offers up-and-coming junior rowers their first experience on the iconic Henley course, inspiring them to strive for greater achievements in their rowing careers. The top eight crews advance to 1v1 style racing, pushing rowers to their limits in the quest to determine the best crew. Let’s look at some of the favourites to qualify:
AB Severn and Stratford-Upon-Avon Boat Club
Starting the time trials, we have a composite of the top-performing West Midlands’ rowers joining, to form this hotly anticipated crew. Stroke pair of G. Janes (ABV) and P. Asquith (ABV) are still on the honeymoon of their National Schools’ Regatta victory, as they sprinted to the line and claimed their rightly feared reputation. They are matched with A. Francis (SUA) at two who claimed the silver medal at JIRR in the singles division this year as her first national medal and D. O’Reilly (ABV) who rowed for her home club of City of Bristol to claim her bronze medal in the doubles at NSR, adding to her wealthy collection of medals. Containing the ingredients for success, can this quad bring it home against squads who have trained with each other for years, or will it crumble under pressure?
Hartpury University and College Boat Club
With a slight adjustment to their national championship-winning crew, Hartpury are clawing their way back into the top steps of junior rowing. Being pipped by the aforementioned AB Severn at the Junior Sculling Regatta in doubles, this crew will be out for revenge and reputation in their pursuit of glory at Henley. Containing H. Bray and M. Hudson-Hulls who raced schools head to finish fifth in the WJ18 4x, this crew certainly has the drive and determination needed to dominate and emerge victorious in this field.
Henley Rowing Club
It is a familiar stretch of water for the HRC athletes who will possess the home support going into this regatta. Comprised of four from the victorious eight at NSR, strong is far too weak an adjective to describe this crew. Stroke seat of the eight, and seats 4 through 6 have been moved over to sculling for this particular regatta, after sweeping for the majority of the winter season, in what’s most likely a big for as much metal as possible. With the practise of well-timed pushes and race-tactics, I am sure this crew have a trick or two ready for the weekend’s racing.
Tideway Scullers School
Finishing just short of medals at NSR, TSS are certainly not to be outcounted for in the running of the event. After a strong performance in the Diamond Jubilee at Henley Royal Regatta last year, the girls certainly have some big shoes to fill. What we most likely saw at NSR wasn’t quite their top boat, so the lineup at Henley Women’s is out for their debut. If these girls are anything like last year’s crew, they’ll be in it fighting tooth and nail until the very end.
Other notable mentions:
Nottingham and Union Rowing Club: More commonly seen in the sweep event for this age category, the crew have turned their hand to sculling. Containing two of their championship 4+, O. McEvoy-Lusty and A. Page, the power is certainly not lacking in this combination. Further, Page recently finished fourth at NSR in the championship women’s pairs displaying her strong technique and style.
Hereford Cathedral School: Breaking into this age group’s top runners last year at National Schools, Hereford have not backed down since. After their NSR silver medal, they have gone on to claim another silver medal with a composite quad at JIRR- teamed with opponents AB Severn.
Sir William Borlase Grammar School: Just split second separated Sir William Borlase and medals at NSR after their tremendous sprint to the line. Running out of water proved to be Borlase’s downfall but over this shorter course, can they time the sprint right to close down their opposition?
Prediction
With the many tight fields from all the races across National Schools’, I would suspect each and every race to provide its own drama, especially as we reach the end of the weekend. However, depending on the draw of the races, I would suspect the grand final for this weekend will be the race between the crews from AB Severn/SUA and Hartpury, whenever in the draw may occur. It will be close for sure, but the experience held by the Hartpury crew will be hard to match from the AB Severn/Stratford composite pushing them into the favourite position going into this race. In terms of the eight who qualify – I am confident of six on this page with two surprises coming from further down the field I feel.
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