The Junior Sculling Head, otherwise known as the Scullery, comes the day after the Schools’ Head, and the J18 4x features a number of crews who are racing both events. Taking place at Dorney, the event envelopes a somewhat unique format of two 1800m legs adding up to a total of 3,600m. How the crews cope with the stop-start nature of racing nearly two full 2000m pieces will be crucial to to the results that come out of this race.
Maidenhead RC
Leading off a second event in two days are Maidenhead. This crew are the form crew of the nation at the moment, having taken a commanding 15 second win at Hampton. This crew is entered under the name of Rowe so the crew reshuffle that has been made for this season is clearly, with all four members of the crew having GB experience at either the Coupe or in the case of Victor Kleshnev junior worlds in the quad. All four won medals in their respective events so know what it takes to win at the highest level. With steering being less of an issue than at other events due to the fact this is a straight lane course, the power this Maidenhead quad have on board will definitely mean they are one of the main contenders for this event.
Windsor Boys School BC
Another crew who have elected to race at both events and another crew who will be looking to upset the Maidenhead apple-cart. Of all the other crews in the event you could argue very strongly that Windsor Boys are the most able to get the better of Maidenhead. Two of this crew, Bryn Ellery and Isaac Workman won this event last year. Their time of 11.40 was only 2 seconds faster than Maidenhead who raced J17 last year and won their category. Both Ellery and Workman performed well at the recent February trials, and this crew came second at Hampton in the quad. This crew know how to win, and will no doubt want to prove they are still the crew to beat on the junior quads scene.
Leander
Leander have an absolutely staggering entry into this event, with a quad entered into every age group as far as J15. This Leander crew are racing both events, and will no doubt be in the mood to ruffle a few feathers. This crew will want to be the boat from Leander that finally goes on to fulfil their potential, as many that have gone before them have not quite achieved what they would have wanted. This crew will no doubt have Matt Peters in it, he being the only returner from last years Henley semi-finalist crew. He performed well at the recent GB trials and will want to cement his seat in Leander’s top quad this summer. Leander’s A quad had a slightly average row at Hampton, placing 7th, a fair way off the pace. What this event will show was if that was on off day for Leander, or this quad has a lack of pace over shorter distances. What’s for sure is this crew will want to prove it was the former.
Henley RC
Henley are one of the bigger clubs who have chosen not to race their boys at Schoola Head, choosing to focus their efforts on this event. Henley are renown for having a strong programme at all ages, though the club are probably stronger on the girls side. Henley’a top quad this year has been strengthened in the form of two athletes from last years Maidenhead 2nd 4x. This crew is entered under the name of Issa, who has been at the top end of the Henley junior Boys squad for a while now, competing at Junior trials placing just shy of the top 10 in the single and then 9th in the double. This quad will want to improve on its 5th place finish from Hampton and without a 6.8km race in their legs from the day before, Henley may well be in with a shout.
Westminster School BC
Westminster have had a quad and an eight for the past couple of years with the quad as the second boat. This year however, the quad is the number one boat for the boys in pink and as you would expect from any Westminster senior crew, they are right in the mix at the top end of the junior quads spectrum. This crew finished 3rd at Hampton, a mere two seconds behind Windsor Boys and this has really served to put them on the radar for this weekend. It will be interesting to see this quad perform over a straight lane course, the Schools Head is on Westminster’s home water, and on the Tideway this can definitely help to shave seconds from the time. This crew will want to prove they are just as fast on neutral water as well, to put themselves in the frame for the summer.
Lea RC
A new look quad from Lea this year, who will be looking to build on last year’s successful quad project that saw them reach the Thursday of Henley Royal Regatta last year. This years quad looks to have been built around the all-conquering double of Jasper Den Dulk and Louis Powell, who won Brit Champs at both J15 and J16 level and went on to represent GB at the J16 GB France match last year. Both rowed to respectable results at the recent February trials which bodes well for this crew. A Lea junior quad raced at Hampton, finishing 8th though it was listed under a different name. This could suggest a crew order shuffle for this event in order to find some more speed so it will be interesting to see if this crew has stepped on since then. A new boat for this year will also help the Lea cause, and I think they will produce a solid, albeit not a winning performance next week.
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