While the National Schools’ Regatta is a regular fixture in the junior rowing calendar, this year’s championship single will be anything but regular. With a format running over two days with competitors possibly racing up to four times, it is going to be a test of endurance and recovery as much as pure two kilometre speed.
Windsor Boys School
Our first club of note is WBSBC entry Cadwallader. Fresh off racing at the U19 European Championships for Great Britain, Cadwallader is one of the stars of British junior rowing and has gone from strength to strength since his move to WBS last season. Cadwallader finished third at the Munich International Regatta and despite not racing in this event at the Junior Sculling Regatta, he will approach the weekend as a hot favourite for the title.
Kingston Rowing Club
The next entry of note is Harris from KRC. The club has a championship quad entered so I expect he is the spare man at this point in time. He has put in impressive performances all season though, most recently racing to fifth at the Junior Sculling Regatta, so expect a competitive showing from an athlete who will have benefited greatly from a boat club on the ascendancy.
Hereford Cathedral Boat Club
Another slightly unknown entry is Morgan-Jones from HCBC. After racing in the quad at the Junior Sculling Head I expect he has been entered in the single to try and find greater speed solo. He won a silver medal in the Championship Double at the National Schools’ Regatta last year and renews his rivalry with Cadwallader, who beat him to the top prize in 2022. This personal battle should be a good watch.
Magdalen College School
Magdalen College’s sculler, Crossley, is the top-ranked athlete from the Junior Sculling Regatta entered into the Championship Boys Single and so should be considered a strong contender. Beyond his performance a few weeks ago, not much is known about the sculler from Oxfordshire. Let’s see how he fares among the fastest juniors in the country.
Prediction
With such a big entry it is difficult to predict exact positions but I would watch the battle between Cadwallader, Morgan-Jones and Crossley for the podium places with Harris fighting for lower places in the A final.
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