Taking place on Dorney Lake this weekend, Marlow Regatta is, for crews racing at Henley, one of the last opportunities to size up competition from both local and overseas clubs, and to pre-qualify for Henley Royal Regatta. With many junior crews entering elite events such as Championship VIIIs, as well as large entries for the junior eights categories, Marlow definitely looks as if it will set these crews up with some stiff competition.
Championship 8+
Competing against crews such as Leander, as well as top university crews including ULBC, Newcastle and Edinburgh University BC, the junior crews entered for the Championship eights have certainly got some tough races ahead of them. The Eton College BC crew is looking like the strongest junior entry, having come 2nd in the Ch 8+ at SHORR, 28th overall at HORR and 2nd in the Challenge VIIIs at Wallingford Regatta, as well as taking home the fastest heat time of the day. They also came 3rd in Championship VIIIs at Metropolitan Regatta. Monmouth School RC has also had a fantastic season, winning the Sch 1st VIII at SHORR, as well as the Senior VIIIs at Reading Amateur Regatta and the Non-Ch 8+ at National Schools’ Regatta, where some of the athletes also took home a bronze medal in the Ch 4+ event. Meanwhile, St Pauls School BC took 3rd place in the Championships VIIIs at SHORR, as well as 1st place in the Ch 8+ at NSR and 3rd in Championship VIIIs at Met Regatta. Both Radley College BC and Shiplake College BC have also had good seasons, with Radley coming 4th in Ch8+ at SHORR, 103rd overall at HORR and 3rd in the Ch 8+ at NSR, as well as 1st in the Championship VIIIs at Met Regatta, whilst Shiplake won the Championship VIII at SHORR and came 2nd in the Ch 8+ at NSR, also winning the J18 VIIIs at Quintin Head. Finally, Kings College School BC are also doing well, with 9th place in the Championship VIII at SHORR and 6th at NSR. With such fantastic results across the board, I’m certain that each of the crews will prove tough competition and perhaps even be in with a chance at getting one of the top spots at Marlow this weekend.
Predictions for junior crews:
1. Eton College BC
2. Monmouth School RC
3. Shiplake College BC
J15 8+
There are also some good results from recent races for the crews entered for the J15 VIIIs. Kings College School BC took silver in the J15 8+ at National Schools’ Regatta and came first in the Championship J15 VIIIs at Schools’ Head, and 1st also in the J15 VIIIs at Quintin Head. Radley College BC has also been successful, coming 3rd in the J15 VIIIs at both Schools’ Head and National Schools’ Regatta. St Pauls School BC meanwhile came 4th at NSR, 2nd at SHORR and 7th at Quintin Head, with the Latymer Upper School BC A, B and C crews coming 10th, 10th and 18th respectively, and the A crew taking 5th in the Championship J15 VIIIs at SHORR. At Quintin Head, the A crew came 2nd and B crew 13th in the J15 VIIIs. Westminster School BC and The Windsor Boys School BC have also raced recently, coming 7th at SHORR and 3rd at Quintin Head, and 6th at NSR respectively.
Predictions:
1. Kings College School BC
2. St Pauls School BC
3. Radley College BC
J16 8+ and School 3rd 8+
Due to a shortage of entries, the crews which go through to the final for each category will race against one another. The Dulwich College BC crew came 10th in the J16 8+ at National Schools’ Regatta, 8th in the Sch 1st J16 8+ at Schools’ Head, and 10th in the J16 VIIIs at Quintin Head, whilst the Eton College BC crew came 2nd at NSR and 1st in the Ch J16 8+ at SHORR. Meanwhile, in the School 3rd VIIIs category, Hampton School BC came 3rd in 3rd VIIIs at NSR, whilst Radley College BC came 4th. With Shiplake College BC also racing in the School 3rd VIIIs, it could be a tight race, but due to a shortage of past results for these crews in this category it is hard to determine a strong idea of the outcome.
Predictions:
1. Eton College BC
2. Hampton School BC
3. Radley College BC
Sch 2nd 8+
Another popular category, the School 2nd VIIIs also have some strong crews participating. Bedford School BC came 9th in the category at both SHORR and NSR, whilst Eton came 3rd at SHORR and 2nd at NSR. Hampton School BC came 7th at SHORR and 2nd at NSR and Kings College School BC took 8th place at SHORR and NSR alike, though came third in the J18 8+ at Quintin Head. Royal Shrewsbury School BC had the very impressive result of 2nd place at Schools’ Head and followed this with 4th place at NSR, whilst Westminster School BC came 5th at SHORR and 6th in the J18 8+ at Quintin Head.
Predictions:
1. Eton College BC
2. Royal Shrewsbury School BC
3. Westminster School BC
School/Junior 8+
A category which has a very high volume of entries, including the American Green Lake Crew, the School/Junior VIIIs also shows promise for tight racing. Bedford Modern School BC came 9th in the Sch 1st VIII at SHORR and 13th in the Non-Ch 8+ at National Schools’ Regatta. Claire’s Court School BC, perhaps a lesser known entry than some of the others in this category, came 11th in the School 1st VIII at SHORR, 12th in the Non-Ch 8+ at NSR and 1st in the Academic VIIIs at Metropolitan Regatta. Monkton Combe School BC came 7th at SHORR and 11th at NSR, whilst Norwich School BC took 4th place at SHORR and NSR, and 5th in the J18 VIIIs at Quintin Head. Pangbourne College BC came 6th at SHORR and 3rd at NSR and Reading Blue Coat School BC came 3rd at SHORR, a rather surprising 15th at NSR and 8th in J18 VIIIs at Quintin Head. Winchester College BC came joint first at SHORR – vying for top spot with the Monmouth School crew – and 6th at NSR, whilst St Pauls School BC and Westminster School BC came 4th and 2nd respectively at Quintin Head.
Predictions:
1. Winchester College BC
2. Norwich School BC
3. St Pauls School BC
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