With regatta season well underway, the biggest competition of the year draws closer. The National Schools’ Regatta, held at the iconic Dorney Lake, hosts a 1900 metre time trial to determine the finals over 2k in a six-lane free for all. The straight, long and immensely painful stretch of water will see sweat, blood and tears shed in pursuit of glory. But who will bathe in the golden glow of standing atop the podium?
Nottingham and Union Rowing Club
Nottingham certainly showed their mettle in octuples at the Scullery in March as they won the event, finishing a whopping 36 seconds ahead of Surbiton in second. They have showed they’ve got the endurance over 2*1800 metres, however haven’t posted a 2k time yet in the eight. An unknown entity at regattas but they shouldn’t be underestimated. They have everything to prove.
Henley Rowing Club
Only 3 weeks ago Henley took Wallingford Regatta by storm, comfortably winning their heat and putting up a fierce fight in the final to take the win. In doing so, they posted an astonishing time that was 26 seconds quicker than the winning crew at last year’s National Schools for this event. This crew is one to watch out for.
Marlow Rowing Club
A stalwart of the scene and a club who have built a reputation for consistently producing world-class athletes throughout the age groups. They’re battling for honours at senior level and the story is something similar for their J15 cohort, a group who impressed at Wallingford to finish second in the final of Junior 15 Women’s Eights. Two seconds back on Henley at that stage, the distance between the two will be interesting to track come next Saturday.
Surbiton High School Boat Club
They finished an impressive second at the Sculling Head in March showing they’re a real contender for the medals. Although 36 seconds behind first, it’ll be interesting to see how much ground they’ve gained over these last few months of training, especially with one blade instead of two. After having a taste of glory I’m sure they’ll be looking to go one better this time.
Lady Eleanor Holles Boat Club
Having a bronze medal under their belts from the Sculling Head proves they’re good but not managing to secure a place in the A final at Wallingford regatta says the opposite. The question is did they have a bad race? And can they come back stronger to possibly find a medal? Perhaps viewed as underdogs approaching the event, they’ll need to draw on their reserves of fortitude and finesse to secure an A-final berth
Wimbledon High School
A relatively new name to the junior women’s rowing scene, but a welcome one in the way they’ve conducted themselves so far. They finished third at Wallingford, impressing in their heat to qualify first ahead of Marlow before succumbing to the Thames Valley club in the final.
Sir William Perkins School
As the only crew to finish in the top five at both Wallingford and the Junior Sculling Regatta, we know they mean business. After narrowly missing out on a medal at the Scullery and coming 5th at Wallingford Regatta can this crew finally secure a top 3 spot? They’ve obviously got the grit between their teeth and the determination, so it just depends how they perform on the day.
Predictions
It is still all to play for. Henley are the favourites but Marlow, Wimbledon and Nottingham & Union are hot on their heels with Surbiton, Lady Eleanor Holles and Sir William Perkins following close behind. Nevertheless, it can often be the crew you least expect to come out aggressive and claim the win.
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