For the smaller boat classes like J16 doubles, this regatta acts as a replacement for National Schools, where there is no longer a WJ16 2x event. This field looks competitive with 11 crews, and with no time trials and straight semis, it’s going to be all about who can master the side by side racing.
Tideway Scullers School
Scullers’ have two doubles entered, and their squad have already shown some very strong results this season. As a crew, they’ve medalled at JIRR and Hampton in the four, and finished a solid 5th at the junior sculling head in a very competitive field. One of their scullers also won the GB J16 trials in February. Their first double, under Supple, finished 2nd in the double at Hampton Head, and this result suggests this may be the faster combination of the two. Either way, both these doubles have the potential to be quick, and at least one should be able to challenge for the win.
Walton RC
Walton have had some strong juniors in the past, and 3rd at Hampton Small Boats and 4th at Hampton Head sets this crew up well for this weekend. It’s always difficult to determine the speed of the smaller boats with not many national level competitions at J16, however with these results this boat should be competitive with the rest of the field, especially if they can step it on for side by side racing.
Kings School Ely
Kings have been producing some decent results in the quad, finishing 5th at Hampton and 3rd at the Schools Head. While they didn’t quite show this same speed at JIRR and the Junior Sculling Head, placing 11th, it is going to be interesting to see how much speed they can show in a double, and they have the ability to gain a decent result, especially from their top crew.
Putney High School
As with Tideway Scullers and Kings Ely, Putney have two double entered which again suggests their top crew boat may have split for this race. While Putney are traditionally stronger at sweep, last season’s results for this age group proved they have talent and can produce some strong results, especially after a solid second place in the WJ16 four at Wallingford Regatta a few weeks back. One of these doubles may be able to throw some surprises into the mix and both should be competitive.
Thames
Thames have some depth in their juniors and have showed some speed in the quad at Hammersmith Head and Hampton. Its difficult to predict their speed in relation to the top doubles here as they did not race at the junior sculling head or have any notable results in the double. While I don’t think they’ll be quite up to the standard of the top crews for this event, an A final finish is definitely possible.
Others to watch are Kings Worcester and the two doubles from Llandaff, who I cannot find any notable results for but have some strong scullers this year, particularly Rhi Morgan, who won silver in the single at JIRR.
Its difficult to know who the top crews will be for this race, but based on results from earlier this season the top challengers for the win will be Tideway Scullers, and also possibly Llandaff, although their crews could go either way.
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