Summer is well underway and one of the largest regattas of the year is right around the corner ! National Schools Regatta 2022 is next weekend and with new rules and format it should prove an interesting weekend of racing. Open second eights has an entry of 10 crews for this year, despite the fact that 1st eights often eclipse their counterparts in the second eights these crews will still be amongst some of the best junior sweep rowers in the country and will certainly show a great deal of skill and speed in their boats on Saturday 28th.
Abingdon School
With an incredible coaching team, including a number of international medal winners, former GB coaches and high-performance junior and university rowers and coxes, Abingdon School’s rowing program has been nigh unbeatable in years gone by. Abingdon performed highly again at last year’s NSR with both the first and second eights placing fourth in their A-finals. Abingdon’s second eight recently won their band at Bedford amateur regatta beating two crews from Oxford and Cambridge colleges, however they did lose to Hampton’s second eight in their final.
Eton College Boat Club
The hosts of the event and of course one of the strongest rowing schools in the country, Eton College will definitely be fielding some strong crews come Saturday. At last year’s NSR Eton College took home the win in both the first and second eights events before going on to win the Princess Elizabeth Challenge cup at Henley, a title they defended from their previous win in 2019. Recently, two athletes (Jamie Ginsberg and Saxton Stacey) from Eton College represented team GB at the 2022 Junior international regatta, having made it through the brutal winter trials, Saxton went on to place third in the eight as well as second in the pair.
Radley College Boat Club
Just a few locks down from Abingdon on some of the best rowing water in the country, Radley College have produced strong athletes for many years now. This year Radley entered 11 athletes into GB trials where they performed very well placing one athlete in the top three fastest ergo submissions in the country and a further three within the top 25. Two athletes from Radley (cox Johnny Elliot and sweep rower Hylton Harvey) represented team GB’s junior squad at munich international regatta earlier this month with Johnny coxing the eight to a bronze against teams from Germany and Ukraine. At School’s Head earlier this year, Radley’s first and second eight placed 6th and 2nd respectively amongst very much the same competition they will face on Saturday.
St Edward’s School Boat Club
Another of the Oxfordshire-based rowing schools, St Edwards have had great successes in both their men’s and women’s squads in recent years. Although last year they placed sixth at NSR their first eight then went on to make it to the semi-finals of Henley before losing to Eton College, who went on to defend their 2019 win.
Shiplake College Boat Club
Although they are a fair bit smaller than the enormous colleges like Eton and Radley, Shiplake College have had very strong crews, especially in head racing season for many years now. Holding the all-time School’s Head record as well as being this year’s first and second champions Shiplake clearly are far from letting their smaller squad hold them back. Shiplake’s second eight placed second in last year’s A-final losing to Eton College. Shiplake athletes Jake Birch and Freddie Middleton represented team GB at Munich International Junior Regatta earlier this month both placing third in the eight as well as Freddie gaining a silver in the pair with Eton athlete Saxton Stacey.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
The only tideway-based school in this event, St Paul’s have fielded strong eights for many years now. They were of course the winners of the ‘Triple’ in 2018, with quite possibly the fastest junior men’s eight in history winning School’s Head, NSR and Henley that year. This year at SHORR St Paul’s first eight placed fifth and their second eight placed third. Though it is doubtful these are the same crews that are going to be racing on Saturday, such consistently high performance on the Tideway from both crews definitely bodes well for racing at Dorney.
St Joseph’s College from Ireland also compete in this event alongside Royal Shrewsbury School, Hampton School and Dulwich College. Dulwich placed third in the A final of this event last year. Hampton’s first and second eights placed seventh and sixth in their respective events at SHORR earlier this year. All these crews will certainly put on some tough performances and be gunning for the podium positions.
Predictions
Obviously this event has an overwhelmingly large amount of talent in almost every crew, predictions will doubtless be challenged on the day whether luck, adrenaline or misfortune befall the crews. I think the A final will certainly contain Eton, Shiplake, Radley, Abingdon and St Paul’s. Eton are of course the defending champs with the defending second and third crews being Shiplake and Dulwich, will these crews hold on to their titles for a second year or will the champions be dethroned ?
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