The junior coaches certainly are not ones to put their feet up after NSR, as there is giant entry list into the quad and smaller sculling boat categories on the Saturday. The season has now shifted towards Henley, lesson from NSR have been learned, now it is time to process them and put them into motion with a new event and a chance to assert dominance or set the record straight again.
The main quads to watch out for will of course be Tideways Scullers School, Windsor Boys and Leander, the top 3 from last weekend. The WBS crew is starting off the entire quad field, older crews included, so perhaps the empty expanse of Dorney lake behind them can give them a slight advantage when it comes to which final they place in. Interestingly, there are some entries from what we usually consider sweep-based programmes such as Great Marlow School and King’s College School. Could these programmes be eyeing up an attempt to get their second crews into the Fawley Challenge Cup? This weekend will certainly give them a good indication of where they fit in the rankings against their new competitors.
In the men’s singles races, there is a mixture of scullers who competed for the Sculls Cup at NSR last weekend, and other athletes who have transitioned into the boat from others. The single is not entirely an important boat class going forward in the season towards Henley, but very important if your squad does not have the depth. Looking at the non-junior side of the field, these athletes will be very pleased if they manage to get into a final high enough to line up against the likes of GB lightweight rower Jamie Copus, or Oxford Blue Tobais Schröder, previously of Abingdon and Winchester junior programmes respectively.
As for the women’s quad category, it seems our new champions Shiplake College have decided to sit this one out, which means it should be time for the Marlow RC crew (Della Luke) to shine and take the win, especially given Headington are back in the 8+. There are many more clubs entered into this category compared to the men’s side of things, so the racing should be a lot more mixed with hopefully the junior crews spread out across the finals, getting stuck in with competition they would not usually be able to race against. One of the crews that will be hoping to challenge Marlow is the Wycliffe Junior RC crew (Rach Egan), who just missed out on the medals last weekend and have a point to prove leading into the Diamond Jubilee in just over 2 month’s time.
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