This year’s Junior Sculling Regatta takes place on bank holiday Monday. With Wallingford Regatta the day before, this marks the second consecutive day of racing at Dorney Lake. Due to Munich International Regatta also falling on this weekend, we’re seeing a slightly depleted entry list in the junior women’s quads, but I’m sure we’ll still get close racing and quality sculling on show. Many crews will also be competing the day before at Wallingford, either coming away with confidence, or motivation to find more in this event.
Wycliffe College Boat Club
After a dominant end to the head season, winning both the Schools’ Head of the River and Oarsport Junior Sculling Head by 30 seconds, setting course records in the meantime, Wycliffe move into regatta season at the top of the pile. However, their impressive international record may not help them at this event, as Holbrow-Brooksbank and Etherington are both representing GB at Munich over the weekend, so this boat will come into the event far from top form. Therefore I would expect the racing to be much closer, especially with the shorter 2k distance, and we’ll see how they deal with the increased pressure of side-by-side racing.
Marlow Rowing Club
Another consistently high-performing club In junior women’s sculling, Marlow appear to be in good form this year, placing second at the Schools’ Head of the River in the quad. They’ve had good results at this regatta in the past, with two members of the crew coming third in the women’s junior 16 quad last year, so they will be ready to improve on the top quad’s fourth-placed finish from 2023. There’s a lot of power in the middle of this boat, with Coupe de la Jeunesse silver medallist Breeze in the two-seat, so I would expect their mid-race rhythm to be particularly strong. However, with one of their top athletes and recent GB April trials winner Lawrence not present in the quad (after competing at Munich), they may not be as well-practiced in this combination.
Lea Rowing Club
Demonstrating remarkable consistency for a club with a smaller junior contingent, Lea RC are always amongst the top junior women’s quads and I think they will be particularly strong this year. With two athletes, Kerbiriou and Hughes, featuring in the A-final of the women’s single at the U19 GB April trials just two weeks ago, the strength of this programme is obvious and shows the capability of their top scullers. Three members of this quad have also rowed together for a long time so it is quite an established unit and will be well rehearsed in racing starts and side by side tactics, giving them the upper hand on newer combinations. They also won Hampton Head in the quad earlier this year, beating Putney High School who are also racing on Monday, which will give them confidence in their race pace moving into the time trial. Last year they came second in the B-final at this event in a hotly-contested race, and with an extra year’s training under their belt and a smaller field, I think this is their opportunity for a medal position.
Putney High School
Another well-established quad emerges from Putney High School, who raced together as a junior 16 outfit in 2023, finishing a brilliant regatta season by representing Great Britain in the annual match against France. They have only got stronger since, with a recent win in the women’s junior 17 category at the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head, so will be looking to continue this success amongst slightly older crews on Monday. My only concern is they won’t be fresh coming into the race, and will have two runs of the course already in the legs from Wallingford the day before. However, if they can stay on top of recovery and use this extra side-by-side racing experience to improve their race plan, I think this quad will deliver a really solid performance.
Other entries
Headington always produce powerful and technical crews and they appear to have split their second eight into quads for this event, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they fill out the rest of the A-final, despite racing the eight the day before. As well as those already mentioned, Grange, Pangbourne and Great Marlow are also racing Wallingford on Sunday, and I expect to see them placing highly but perhaps with some changing results between the days as race plans are developed and the endurance of the athletes is tested.
My predictions
I expect Wycliffe to take gold, even with a weakened crew. Such was the margin of their head season victories that even a depleted boat should have enough in the tank to sweep the field. I expect Marlow, bridesmaids in March, to claim silver and Putney High to scoop a bronze.
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