Henley Women’s is a unique and very special event for all of those involved, sitting just a couple of weeks before Henley, some would see it as a warmup race, but due to the level of competition and the prestige of winning one could argue that it is a special event all on its own. Certainly, it is a very welcoming and pleasant event to attend for all of those involved. However, as an event for the competitors, it is certainly special, it gives the younger women of the sport an opportunity that no-one else can get, a chance to race on the real Henley course. It is a spectacle that is unique to this event, and this will encourage a lot of fast and hard racing, and for some will be a warm up for Henley in 2 weeks Time.
Sir William Borlase School Boat Club – (SWB H.Hobbs) – (336):
Sir William Borlase School Boat Club is a boat club that is seeing a surge in results and is starting to prove its mettle in the rowing world, the crew that I have selected to talk about have seen huge amounts of success having got into the A final at NAT Schools, with both boats placing 4th and 5th, with close racing all the way down the course, they will want to better their result previously and try and get closer to the top, with 1 less crew being entered, clearly this crew is the best of both, and will be the optimum crew for this race. There will surely be a lot of pressure on their shoulders and will fight all the way down the course.
Henley Rowing Club (A) – (HEN (A) F.Reeves) – (338):
Henley Rowing Club; since its establishment in 1839 has been one of the major forces in Junior rowing, and specifically in Junior women’s racing. They seem to create incredibly crews, even in a “down year” and appear to still be incredibly competitive. This year is no exception, with this crew absolutely ripping Nat schools apart this year; with a first place finish at National Schools, they should be tipped to be the winners this time round. With a 26.37 Second gap between the next best crew, we should expect some record breaking times down the course from this crew. They should be the one to watch and certainly a lot of expectations should be upon them to win.
Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club – (WYJ M.Palmer) – (319):
Wycliffe junior Rowing Club was born about from its older brother, Wycliffe Rowing club, whom has been a massive force in rowing for a long time, since 2017. And they appear to be making some absolutely incredible progress over the past 5 years, and with the vast resources they have at their disposal have created quite a force in a crew, placing 2nd, this will be another highly competitive and competent crew to be dealt with and should not be dismissed by the other schools, they should expect a hard and difficult fight to the final, but regardless they will be a feared opponent in the side by side racing.
Team Keane Sculling School – (TKC A. Nonan) – (337):
Team Keane Sculling School is a boat club that has seen many ups and downs over the years, and with their victory in the NAT schools J15 4+. It may be all those hard years of work finally paying off. This crew interestingly has decided to compete at Henley a year yearly and in a different boat class. This should be reflective of the coaches confidence and the clubs confidence in them, and indicates that this will a be crew to watch for next year. It will be interesting to see how they do, having got a place in the A-final, and whatever result they get out should be a interesting learing curve for them.
Other Crews:
There are some other significant crews such asKew House Boat Club – (KHS(A C. Pantelides) – (315): A boat club which is starting to stand out from the crowd is recent years, with their eye-catching Blue, Green and White and are one to keep and eye on. Tideway Sculling School – (TSS G.Allen) – (334) , This is a boat club which has a reputation of bringing together some absolutely incredible crews, having outstanding Junior Men and Women’s squads over the past years, this crew will want to prove that they deserve to wear the Red and Yellow One piece. Maidenhead Rowing Club – (MHS P.Langley) – (323). This is a boat club with a long history in junior rowing, and they will want this crew to perform well, and to show that this club have the pedigree to compete at a high level.
My Predictions are:
- Henley Rowing Club (A) – (HEN (A) F.Reeves) – (338)
- Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club – (WYJ M.Palmer) – (319)
- Sir William Borlase School Boat Club – (SWB H.Hobbs) – (336)
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