Radley has entered two crews into this event. I assume that these are their 1st VIII and J16 8+s, and that both will be of a very good standard. Rumour has it that recent seat racing has lead to a number of changes, and that they have been building speed fast in recent months. Radley is the only school from the National Schools Champ 8+ final entered in this event, so I doubt that they will be pushed very hard by any of the other crews. They will, however, be looking to send a message to the other schools, and to get a good race under their belts before they move out to Henley in a few weeks time.
Despite losing their top athlete to the above mentioned 1st VIII, the Radley J16 crew should be very fast. They placed fourth in a close J16 final at National Schools, beaten by the likes of St Paul’s and Eton.
The St Paul’s J16 crew has also entered this event in preparation for the Henley qualifiers event, where they will try to qualify for the Temple Challenge Cup. They placed second at National Schools, and will be eager to prove themselves against the Radley 1st VIII and J16 crews . It’ll be interesting to see how they fare against the Radley crews.
Norwich, Dulwich and Latymer are some of the best child Beale schools. I doubt that they will give the Radley 1st VIII much of a contest, but are probably the next fastest crew. Despite missing the medals at National Schools, Norwich placed first in 1st 4+ on the Sunday.
London Oratory has had some issues with funding recently, but, nevertheless, has continued to perform well. I’d really like to see these boys giving the more established schools a run for their money.
It’s hard to predict how fast Greenlake USA will be, but looking at the Henley entries, they seem to have entered two crews in the Thames Cup. Perhaps this crew is made up of their younger athletes.
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