As the date for National Schools draws closer, anticipation is building amongst the rowing community. This is one of the first opportunities that crews have to show what they have spent the last year painfully constructing. The Champ boys coxed four is not different, with 10 entrants from around the UK waiting to see who will claim the crown and take home medals this weekend.
Enniskillen Royal Boat Club
Ranked within the top 20 schools in Northern Ireland, Enniskillen is a rowing outfit that is on the up. All four members of their four raced the 2019 regatta in the J15 8+ that took 2nd place in the B final and put in a solid performance, being only just over 1 second off the pace of the winner of their final. If they have found some extra speed it will be interesting to see if they can make gains into the A final of this event.
Winchester College Boat Club
Founded in 1867 it is one of the oldest boat clubs in the UK and has seen several successes through the years, and I am sure that the four will be wanting to continue the legacy this weekend. Again, all four members of the four raced the Founder’s cup alongside Enniskillen, however, the Winchester four did not make it past the time trial, so I have no doubt that they will be wanting to turn over Enniskillen this weekend.
Great Marlow School Boat Club
Great Marlow is not a school steeped in National Schools medals but would certainly be interesting to watch this time around with their current line-up. The crew is composed mainly of the eight that raced the Founders cup but did not make it past the time trial. For this race, however, they have moved their cox to 2 seat in a bid to try and coax some extra speed out of the new boat and drafted in Thomas Wiles who in 2019 raced the J14 4x in 2019. We will have to wait till the time trial to see if this has had any effect on their speed.
Norwich School Boat Club
Norwich has always put out strong performances at National Schools, and this year should be no exception, with their entry into the Champ 4 category being made out of the 2019 Norwich second eight who came second in the Bluefriars cup. However, in this event, they will be going up against crews who raced the Founders cup, so there is going to be an interesting tussle on our hands here as to who will claim those bronze and silver places.
Tideway Scullers School Boat Club
Two members of this four raced the 2019 regatta in the winning J16 4x so big things will be expected from this four. In addition to this, they have recruited additional winners from Kingston who raced the 4+ in 2019 so it looks like this crew is definitely the favourite to put in a strong performance and perhaps to take the gold. Surely they can’t fail with such a stack of metalware behind them.
Latymer Upper School Boat Club
The Tideway based club of Latymer is a solid midfield team and puts in a solid performance at most races. Their entrant into this race is, much like other crews in this race, a four comprised of some of the eight that raced the Founder’s cup who finished fourth in the B final.
Reading Blue Coat School
Not much is known about this four. Only one member of the crew, Rowan Parrington, raced national schools last year in the J15 4x+, who did not make it past the time trial stage of the elimination rounds. This crew stands to be a wild card, there is always one crew that turns up out of nowhere, this could be that crew.
Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association
This four looks like a solid four, one to compete at the top of the midfield and to vie for those medal positions. Two of the crew members racing the J15 4+ so have experience doing side by side racing in this boat class. The aforementioned crew made it to the A final where they placed 5th, missing out on medals by a fair margin so it is up to them this year in order to come back with a vengeance and take the competition by storm.
Mossbourne Rowing Academy
This crew is comprised of 4 rowers who races the J15 4x+ for Mossbourne, which did not make it past the time trials stage of the competition. This weekend then we will be able to see if they have coaxed extra speed out of their boat, and how well they have perfected their craft, but it is unlikely that this crew is going to be competing for medal positions.
Kew House School Boat Club
A new combination for this boat club will be seen at the 2021 regatta, with only a few members of the crew having experience in the 2019 regatta, only one member having raced in the J15 4x+ where they finished 3rd in the B final
Prediction
Tideway scullers and Enniskillen are going to be the ones to watch in this race, with I expect Norwich taking the silver and Great Marlow taking the bronze
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