Before I begin, I’d just like to apologise for the punctuality of this article. I hadn’t looked at my schedule and so only realised I was due to write yesterday afternoon. As it were, I’m going to look at the J181x and 2x for the Kingston Small Boats Head.
J181x
14 entries with a lot of local scullers making up the competition. I can spot two potential challengers here. Joe Hughes, of Molesey Boat Club, is one of my favourites for this event. He raced in the Molesey ‘A’ quad last year, making the Thursday of Henley. He also recently passed the first round of GB Trials by pulling a 2000m ergo below the suggested 6:50 cut off point. He’s a capable sculler although a 20th place finish at the Fours Head of the River did not reflect that. The other sculler is Luke Hillier, Kingston Grammar School stalwart and all round great guy. He raced in the Jun 4x. from KGS last year, racking up some decent results through the winter. Having pulled a 6:43 ergo score, Luke also proceeds to the next round of trials. Looking at the entries, I would expect the fight for the top prize to be between these two guys.
J182x
This is a difficult one to predict as I’m not immediately familiar with any of the crews. However, Tiffin have entered four crews and, although none of the names correspond, there could be some of the guys from the J164x that made the National Schools final last year. If so, they will be strong and I’d expect them to be pushing for the win. A Tiffin crew came fourth at the Pairs Head of the River last month so, if this is the same crew, I’d expect a strong showing. It doesn’t look as if Winchester or Dulwich have entered their top boys into their respective crews so that could make for an interesting match-up. Watch out for the two Molesey crews; the men in black made the CH2x final last year and are often notoriously fast in small boats.
WJ181x
There is a much better standard of field in the women’s equivalent, with two top scullers going head to head. Flo Blake Parsons, bronze medallist at the National Schools Regatta last year, is racing alongside her new doubles partner, Isobel Dodds. Both of these girls should be strong, having competed together at the 2013 GB France match in the JW 2-. On the subject of the GB France match, we are also graced with the presence of a recent winner. Lola Anderson, Surbiton High School’s most prodigious talent, is facing up to the girls from KGS and I expect a top battle between these girls. KGS to sneak it though.
WJ182x
Only four entries and, without wanting to be crude, I can only see one winner here. The formidable combination from Kingston Grammar should take this comfortably ahead of the other three.
Just a short one for today- Henley Long Distance Sculls is next weekend so we will be working hard to ensure that we produce a high quality preview.
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