The 2023 National Schools’ Regatta is finally within reach. Attracting around 5,000 competitors it will be one of the largest regattas of the summer. The Girl’s J16 Eights sees six crews take to the water in pursuit of glory.
Surbiton High School
This has been Surbiton’s season thus far. Wins at the Schools’ Head were preceded by victories at both Hampton and Quintin Heads. That exceptional start was tempered somewhat by a slightly below-par showing at Wallingford where the crew finished fourth, behind Henley, Wallingford and LEH (having beaten the latter two in March). The question now for Surbiton is can they wrap up the postmortem in time to reappear fresh and firing at the National Schools’ Regatta? Head racing is a wholly different beast to the nature of side-by-side contest and Surbiton will need to be as mentally focused as they are physically conditioned to emerge triumphant.
Lady Eleanor Holles
Lady Eleanor Holles have been gradually creeping up the rankings this season. They placed third at Wallingford a few weeks ago, ahead of all but one of next weekend’s competition, which shows they’re in good nick for a tilt at the title. Build into that the fact that they have entered two eights, demonstrating real strength-in-depth, and the case for an LEH victory starts to become all-the-more compelling.
Latymer Upper School Boat Club
Latymer enjoyed a steady start to the year, with fifth and sixth-placed finishes at Wallingford Head of the River followed up by a consolidating fifth at Quintin. Nothing if not consistent in their application, they ended up fifth at Wallingford Regatta a couple of weeks ago but were only half a second back on Surbiton in fourth. Throughout the year, they have often entered two crews into events which illustrates their depth and resource from which to pool and perform. I expect them to do well.
Wallingford Rowing Club
Coming into next weekend, Wallingford are technically the fastest crew on paper. A silver at Schools’ Head of the River, six seconds or so behind Surbiton, was followed by another second-placed finish at Wallingford Regatta, except this time they dispatched their green-clad rivals by a convincing 11 seconds. The exhilarating regatta atmosphere bodes well for this squad and seems to motivate them to seize the day.
Predictions
This race will definitely be an exciting one. I predict first place will go to Wallingford, Lady Eleanor Holles will come second and third will be Surbiton.
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