Ella Bardsley Taylor – Hartpury
Coming off the back of a successful weekend in Italy at U19 Junior Europeans, Bardsley Taylor is one half of the double that came first in the B final. Her season thus far has been strong; most recently she won at the Junior Sculling Regatta. Hartpury has a traditionally excellent programme – their winning streak in the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup category at Henley Royal Regatta comes to mind – but they have had a few fallow years in the past half decade. Bardlsey Taylor seems to be turning that around.
Meg Knight – Trentham R.C
The other half of the aforementioned double, Meg Knight is a talented rower in her own right and her sculling skills have gone from strength to strength. She won the world indoor rowing championships last year and represented GB this year after coming first at the U19 trials. The battle between her and Bardsley Taylor will be very interesting to watch.
Lara Grant – Rob Roy B.C
Grant had a good race at JSR, coming second in a competitive field. She also came a respectable top 30 at U19 trials recently, it will be interesting to see if she can improve on this and shave off some of the seconds she lost to Ella Bardsley Taylor.
Laura Burton – Cambridge ‘99
Another rower familiar with the river Cam, Laura Burton came sixth at Junior Trials. Last year at National Schools’ Regatta she won the WJ17 singles category, so is familiar with what it takes to win in Nottingham.
Predictions:
Not only is this a very stacked event, with a lot of very talented scullers. I think the split up double of Ella Bardlsey Taylor and Meg Knight will be hard to beat, but with so many entries there could very well be an upset.
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