With the National Schools’ Regatta in only a few weeks’ time, the preparation from clubs and schools alike is beginning to ramp up in what is arguably the pinnacle of the junior calendar for many. This weekend slightly further north than Eton Dorney at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham we have what will be many crew’s first test of their real speed across a 2000m race course which will be in perfect time to test and refine their race strategy ahead of the rest of the summer’s racing.
Junior 18 Eights
With the absence of what are the looming presences of many of the big names in Junior Men’s sweep such as St Pauls and Radley, this weekend it will be exciting to see how the lesser-known school programmes compare against each other. St George’s College are fielding two eights into this category indicating depth within their squad: a potential indicator of speed. They will be joined by the likes of Bedford School who recently took the win at their home regatta and Nottingham and Union who will have the advantage of racing on their home turf with their supporters likely to turn up in force.
Junior 18 Quads
Arguably the event to watch this weekend on the men’s side is that of the J18 Quads. With the widest entry pool alongside many multi-crew entries from clubs (Kings School Worcester and Newark RC), it will be intriguing to see what level of depth exists within these squads. Kingston Rowing Club recently saw some success placing 1st in the B Final at the Junior Sculling Regatta, the highest-placing competitor coming into this weekend. Only a few places behind we had Hereford Cathedral School’s top quad place. There is no doubt these boys will be looking to close this gap this weekend and take one over on Kingston Rowing Club.
Junior 18 Small Boats
Small boat rowing is arguably one of the most exciting competitions to watch unfold. Whereas for the bigger boat classes, much of the time a few same clubs can dominate, when broken down into small boats where the individuals performance is of greater importance, we can often see the emergence of fast athletes that small clubs such as Dart Totness and Galway who are able to foster and hone in their skills on an individual basis.
In the singles, P.Hare from Grange School has clearly established himself as one of their programme’s top scullers, making the Championship Quad last year. Kingston Rowing Club has also entered a single of whom I likely expect to be one of the top scullers from their aforementioned J18 Quad and hence I’m sure he will be entering into this weekend’s race with some speed.
Junior 16 Quads and Small Boats
Again, making a feature this time in the J16 category we have crews from Kings School Worcester and eGrange Schoolentered alongside Doncaster Schools. What I likely expect is that these clubs are using this weekend as a trial run for these younger athletes ahead of NSR allowing them to make mistakes this time around before racing the big leagues in a few weeks’ time where the margins for error will be much tighter.
For the doubles, we have a few entries that we have not seen in any of the other events so far bringing the potential for upset to be caused by the likes of Burton Leander, Upton and Durham School. However, by what I expect to be a large depth within their squad comparatively, I think it will be Hereford Cathedral School’s race to lose as their programme continues to build in strength over the recent years.
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