Just when we thought that the junior scene could put its feet up after a jam-packed bank holiday of racing at Dorney from Saturday through to Monday, this weekend’s Metropolitan Regatta has rolled around to add in the excitement of many of the junior clubs opting to test their speed against the older club and university crews. The good news is we also have a fresh batch of recent results from last weekend for a clearer picture of how the field shapes up for this next batch of racing.
Starting with the Open 8+ Champ category, the three junior programmes of St Paul’s, KCS and Abingdon have elected to make the step up outside of the junior category and compete with the top club programmes in the country. It definitely will not be easy for these crews to go off so high up in a very competitive time trial field, especially against former top junior athletes who have a few more years’ experience of dedicated club rowing under their belt. However, with such a large field, this will lend itself well to these crews regardless as they can practice their racing mentalities without the pressure of knowing that these could be crews they race further down the line at Henley Royal Regatta. Interestingly, it was these three junior entries that placed 2nd (KCS), 3rd (SPS) in Ch 8+ B at NSR. The Abingdon crew by the looks of the name on the entry is their 2nd 8+, which just missed out on a medal last weekend.
In the dedicated Open J18 8+ category, we find Abingdon, Eton, KCS and Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School. By the looks of the entry names, this is most likely Abingdon’s first crew, Eton’s first crew, KCS’s second crew and finally a J16 crew from Sir William Borlase’s. Based off results from last week, Eton should be able to hold of Abingdon in 2nd, with KCS and SWB following in a battle of their own for 3rd. That being said, the eights categories are all combined, so they will still be racing in the same field as the crews in the previous paragraph.
You might be wondering where is Westminster School? Coach Josh Butler, who appeared on our episode of The End of the Island last week, has split his top boat of his only 8 senior athletes into two coxless fours in the Open 4- Championship category. It is impossible for me to discern whether these crews are matched or ranked, but it certainly seems the Westminster squad is back to the drawing board and out the 8+, focusing on racing experience in a harder boat to get right, in the aim of being faster when the crews combine later on back in the 8+.
And now on to the Women’s J18 8+ category, which is filled with entries. First up we have Henley RC and Headington School, who have both made the quick transition out of the squad into sweep and are back in the 8+. Last weekend’s result means that Headington do have more speed at this stage in the season, but let’s first have a look at the experienced sweep clubs entered as well. Marlow RC and Tideway Scullers’ School finished a close silver and bronze in Ch 4+ G and TSS will want to reverse that finish order on Saturday. The only crew in this category that already has regatta experience in the 8+ is Molesey BC, which might just be the edge when it comes to the 8 lane racing we will get at Met.
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