With 52 crews entered, the Girls’ Championship Double Sculls is one of the most popular events at National Schools’ Regatta this year. The majority of the crews entered for this category faced each other in various categories at Junior Sculling Regatta just a few weeks ago. As the biggest junior regatta of the year, National Schools’ Regatta always provides exciting racing, with the best junior crews in the country – and further afield, with crew entries from two Irish clubs, Enniskillen and St Michael’s – competing against one another on the picturesque Dorney Lake. I’d imagine that there will be tough competition for the top spots, with some clubs making multiple entries of very strong crews.
American School in London BC – Noor Zalt, Clair Wiest
ASL has entered two crews for this event, though there are only past results for one of the crews. Zalt’s double came 13th in WJ18 2x at Henley LDS, and the crew also raced at Wallingford LDS in both the WJ18 4x and W2x. At Junior Sculling Regatta, Zalt’s crew made the WJ17 A final, coming in 6th place overall.
Bedford Modern School BC – Lizzie Rowe, Abigail Ngwang
At Junior Sculling Regatta, both Ngwang and Rowe raced in the WJ18 coxless quad which came 4th overall in the B final. The girls also raced in the Junior Challenge coxless quad which won at Fours Head. Rowe also raced in the WJ18 2x and WJ18 1x at Bedford Small Boats’ Head, winning both races.
Fulham Reach BC – Julia Hagen, Molly Oglethorpe
Hagen and Oglethorpe both raced in their respective crews at Junior Sculling Regatta, with Hagen taking 3rd place and Oglethorpe 5th in the WJ17 2x A final. At Kingston SBH, Hagen’s crew came 3rd in the WJ18 double whilst Oglethorpe’s crew was close behind, taking 4th
Henley RC – Riley Butcher, Holly Nave
At 2018 Junior Sculling Regatta, Butcher made the A final in the WJ15 2x, taking 5th place. More recently, Butcher seems to have been racing in bigger boats, with Henley crews winning the WJ16 eights at Wallingford 4s and 8s Head, in addition to a win at Upper Thames Autumn Head in the women’s Band 1 category. Butcher also raced in the WJ18 8+ which came 4th at British Rowing Junior Championships and in the WJ15 quad which won at Weybridge Ladies’ Regatta.
Hinksey Sculling School – Harriet Wilson, JoJo Blythe, Emma Foster, Maddie Gorrell
Hinksey seems to be dominating the draw for this event, with four doubles entered. Wilson and Foster made the WJ18 coxless quads A final at Junior Sculling Regatta. At National School’s Regatta 2018, Blythe and Wilson raced in the WJ16 quad which came 4th in the B final, and Foster raced in the GCh 2x though didn’t get to the finals. Blythe and Wilson also raced together in the WJ16 quad at Junior Sculling Regatta 2018 where they took bronze, and again at Schools’ Head 2018 their quad came 4th overall. At Upper Thames Autumn Head, Wilson and Blythe won the WJ18 double, clocking the second fastest time of the day, and Foster’s double came 4th overall. In the WJ18 quad, Blythe, Wilson and Foster came first, with the fastest time of the day; Gorrell also raced in this event, though in a different crew.
Kingston Grammar School BC – Freya King, Isadora Jones
At Kingston SBH, King came 5th in the WJ18 single scull. At Wallingford Regatta, she raced in the W School’s coxed four, which won the category and also in the W School’s double, which came 6th.
Kings School Ely BC – Holly Lancaster, Holly Burke, Alice Dickens
Kings School Ely is also a strong force within this category. At Junior School’s Head of the River, Dickens reached the B final of the WJ18 double. In addition to this, Dickens came 12th overall in the double at Junior Sculling Regatta and won in both the WJ18 1x and W Senior 2x at St Ives Regatta. Burke meanwhile reached JIRR qualifiers in a composite double, only just missing out on qualifying for the race. At Pairs Head, Lancaster and Burke teamed up in the WJ18 Championship double, finishing in last place, but with a respectable time of 17:30.7. At Peterborough Head of the Nene, Lancaster and Burke raced in the winning quad, and also won the quad at Star Head, where Lancaster also won in the WJ18 double. Finally, Lancaster recently achieved the fantastic result of winning the U19 double at Brit Champs.
Royal Shrewsbury School BC – Maggie Page,
At Wycliffe SBH, Page won the her WJ18 single scull, with Wycliffe crews also taking 2nd and 3rd placed in the WJ18 double. At Nottingham City Regatta, Page came 4th in the WJ18 double, another strong result. In addition to this, RSSBC pupils have done well at Junior Sculling Head, with the WJ18 quad coming 10th overall, and taking second place at Hammersmith Head in the GSch/Jun quad.
Thames RC – Tilda Head, India Gloag
At British Rowing Junior Championships, Head came 4th in the WJ18 single sculls. At Chiswick Regatta 2018, she also won the WJ17 single scull race. At Twickenham Regatta, Head won the WJSch double. Thames RC also won the WJ18 doubles at Chiswick Regatta 2019.
In addition to this, three of the crews – Gloucester Hartpury BC, Lea RC and Mossbourne Rowing Academy – raced each other in the WJ18 2x A final at Junior Sculling Regatta, coming 1st, 2nd and 4th respectively, whilst the Molesey BC, Worcester RC and Peterborough City RC doubles entered for National Schools Regatta took 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the B final. In the WJ17 2x A final, 1st place was taken by the Walton RC crew and 2nd by Royal Grammar School Worcester BC.
Predictions:
This is definitely an event with extremely tough competition for the top spots. Looking at results from Junior Sculling Regatta, I’d imagine that the Gloucester Hartpury will have a very strong race, though Holly Lancaster’s Kings Ely crew also has good credentials. Overall, I would imagine it’ll be a fight between these two crews, with some solid competition from the Hinksey SS entries as well as Lizzie Rowe’s Bedford Modern School crew and potentially a strong performance from the Henley double.
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