With Schools Head taking place the day before the scullery, some of the crews entered into this category may be making the transition from racing in larger sweep boats on the Monday to quads the following day. These crews may therefore be fatigued from the long race from Chiswick to Putney at Schools Head, which may give some of the fresher crews the advantage, who have been training specifically for this event. With 36 crews entered into the J16 quads category, including multiple international crews, this category is shaping up to have the one of the most competitive draws for a few years running.
First of all, it is interesting to take a look at the international crews which have entered this category. First up, there is an Italian crew entered from “Istituto Statale E. STEIN Gavirate“. As they are an international crew, it is extremely hard to know how fast they will be next Tuesday however when this club last visited in 2015, their J18 quad only placed 19th in their category. However, this club could have stepped up their training program since then or have a stronger set of young athletes, which could result in them achieving a time towards the top of the category. Furthermore, there are also two Swiss crews entered from “Liceo Cantonale Ticino” Rowing Club. This club’s J16 boys A quad will be composed of the following athletes; Luis Schulte, Sebastian Wabusseg, Marco Canuti and Peider Konz. As these athletes are coming from abroad, they will definitely have their eyes set on finishing towards the top end of the category, however whether they are able to achieve this is unknown. The only piece of information available on any of these crew members is Marco Canuti’s impressive performance at “Winter on the Po” in Turin, where he finished 13th place over 5km in his single. This strong result bodes well for their race next Tuesday however this crew’s result will depend on the strength of the other athletes and how well these athletes can work together in order to move the boat as fast as possible.
Henley Rowing Club- Turnell
With this Henley crew racing under the same name in J15 quads at the scullery last season, and taking the silver medal in that respective category, they will be looking to step on from their achievements last year and will most certainly be aiming for a gold medal in this category. This crew will most likely have the potential to medal this year, however they will definitely be challenged by a number of strong British crews, and potentially the international crews too.
Latymer Upper School Boat Club
Latymer are starting to become one of the bigger names in the junior rowing scene, with their J18 boys eight making the step up from “First Eights” to Championship Eights this year. However, there is definitely a question mark over the speed of their younger squads. An 11th place finish in J16 quads at the recent Hampton Head would suggest that this crew doesn’t have what it takes to medal in this event, however their time was only 6 seconds slower than Henley’s fastest quad in this event, and this suggests that they will be challenging Henley for a high spot in the overall rankings.
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Boat Club- Lane
Borlase certainly has the history in junior mens quads, with them winning the Fawley Challenge cup at Henley back in 2015 and the coaches will definitely want this success to be carried down through the generations of the boat club. A strong 2nd place finish behind Tideway Scullers in J16 quads at the recent Hampton Head would suggest that this crew will be aiming for a gold medal finish in this category, and their recent performances at races indicate that they definitely have a chance of achieving this result.
The Windsor Boys School Boat Club- Van Gelderen
A more recent win of the Fawley Challenge Cup at Henley last year sets the Windsor boys school up to have another incredible season this year. A fifth place finish at Hampton Head in J16 quads would indicate that this crew may have the ability to medal in this category, however whether they have picked up any additional speed will be utterly dependent on their training since February.
The Grange School Rowing Club- Paisley
This rowing club, based in Hartford, are usually unheard of within the junior sculling scene, however their J16 quad achieved an admirable 4th place in J16 4x at the recent Hampton Head, with their time only 0.1 seconds off Leander’s. If this crew has picked up a decent amount of speed since February and if they attack the race hard enough, they could potentially come away with a medal at the end of the race. I am unsure of whether they will be able to cope under the pressure of racing some incredibly experienced clubs at such a large event, however this crew are extremely likely to achieve a top 5 finish in the results.
Claires Court School Boat Club- Nash
Claires Court are another huge name when it comes to junior sculling, with their squad having produced extremely successful results for the last few years, since Tom Jost took over and starting running their program. I am unsure of how well Claires Court will be able to perform in this event, as the trend in recent years is that they tend to peak towards the end of the season, meaning they are considerably slower in head races than regattas. A ninth place finish in J16 quads at Hampton Head also backs this up and this would indicate that Claires Court will be pushing for a top ten finish next Tuesday and that they are unlikely to take a medal.
Leander Club
With Leander Club being known for being very selective of their athletes, this crew is bound to be fast and consist of a strong set of individuals. Under the disguised name of “Star and Arrow Club” this crew put in a strong performance at Hampton Head where they placed 3rd, just behind Sir William Borlase Grammar School. This crew will be hungry for revenge against Borlase and will therefore be hunting down the gold medal position for every inch of the course, and this should lead to an extremely close pair of times between this crew and the respective Borlase crew.
There are a few other big names entered into this event which have the potential to achieve a strong time in this event, however there is minimal data on these crews and it is therefore difficult to predict how they will do next Tuesday. These crews include; Bryanston School Boat Club, A.B Severn Rowing Club, RGS High Wycombe Boat Club, Wallingford Rowing Club and Gloucester Rowing Club.
It is especially hard to make a final prediction in this category as there is little idea about the speed of the two Swiss crews and the Italian crews. However, out of all the British crews entered, I would expect Sir William Borlase Grammar School Boat Club to be the quickest UK quad in this event, with Leander Club having the second fastest UK crew in this event, and I would expect The Windsor Boys School Boat Club to pull through and take the third highest position out of the UK crews entered into this category.
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