The Tier 2 Coxed Fours event sees a field of entries almost exclusively from club crews. With Henley and the Britannia Challenge Cup just around the corner, Marlow offers the last opportunity to get some racing before qualification races and the start of Henley.
Elizabethan BC
Elizabethan is the alumni club of Westminster School, one of the big names on the junior rowing scene. With guys who will all have the same idea of how to move a boat this crew could be one to watch. They raced at the Met Regatta, where they placed third in the B final on the Sunday, well in the mix with university and top-level club crews. This bodes well for a crew who will most likely have come together quite late so should still have speed to find.
Hinksey Sculling School
One of the major stories of Henley last year was the magical performance from the juniors at Hinksey where they made it all the way to the final of the Britannia. This crew has two returners from that crew, who took the Championship Pairs title at National Schools’ a few weeks ago. With know how when it comes to racing more senior athletes, combined with the culture that sets Hinksey apart from many other programmes, this crew worth keeping an eye on.
Tideway Scullers School
One of the mainstays of the club rowing scene, Scullers have a four in this event that have been racing together for the past few weeks. At the Met Regatta they placed third in the C final on the Saturday and then sixth in the B final on the Sunday, which was a strong pair of results in the club standings. They will be hoping to reinforce that with a good result this weekend.
Kingston RC
Another crew who have already done some racing this season, Kingston also raced on both days at the Met Regatta. Here they placed fourth in the C final and then fifth in the B final on both days, which puts them very close to the Scullers crew above. As such, it will be interesting to see which of these crews will come out on top this weekend.
Reading RC
Reading is a club who haven’t been seen in the club events at Henley for some time now, but there is reason to think that this may well be the season that changes. This is also a crew who performed well at the Met Regatta, where they were well in the mix with the club crews on both days there. They also raced at Reading Amateur Regatta where they made the final of the Band A Coxed Four event, gaining some good experience in a match racing scenario. A decent result here will help their case for qualification.
Prediction
These events are always hard to call around Henley time as crews are looking to fine tune and end their run into Henley on a positive note. In terms of looking at a top three for this part of the Coxed Four event, I would call Elizabethan for the win, followed by Hinksey with Tideway Scullers completing the top three places.
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