Another major event with a small entry number of 15 boats. Some great match-ups on the cards with the top end of the draw looking particularly tasty. Onto the preview…
Eton Excelsior
Arguably the fastest junior women’s quad in the country at the moment. They won at the HOR4 and have recorded some excellent results through the season including wins at Hampton Head, Thames Valley Trial Head [1x] and Pairs Head. However, at the Thames Valley Head held at Dorney, they were beaten into second place in the quad by a strong Marlow crew. Marlow have chosen to race at WJ17 level and so these two will not be directly competing. Times will be comparable though and it will be good to see who comes out on top. Marlow had some superb results at the latest set of GB Trials with Rosalind Wilson, Molly Harding and Heidi Long coming home 2nd, 5th and 7th respectively. Over the shorter distance of 2k, Marlow trumped Eton Excelsior but the two laps may well turn the race in favour of the latter crew. We will also be denied a match-up at the Schools Head as Marlow are racing a Women’s Championship Eight while Eton Excelsior have not entered at all. I think Eton Excelsior will win the WJ18 event but look out for the fastest women’s time of the day; it could come from either of these crews.
Headington School Boat Club
A stalwart in junior rowing and reigning champions in this event from last year. We haven’t heard much from these girls so far this season but I think Eton Excelsior will be too strong for them on this occasion. Headington’s versatility and strength in depth is remarkable and they have entertained something bordering on a monopoly over junior women’s rowing over the last few years. Having won CHG8+ at NSR in May, they put out a very strong quad for HRR which ended up as losing finalists. This is an impressive feat and one I think they will continue. With LEH under the stewardship of Cheesman, Headington may find their hold on certain events slipping slightly. I predict top 3 for these girls.
Sir William Borlase
You’d be silly to write off SWB. Although they did not perform particularly well at the HOR4, they had a pretty quick four who may have transferred across for the OJSH. It will be interesting to see what Robin Dowell can produce from the athletes he has. They only had one representative at Feb GB Trials, in the form of Megan Barry, who finished 33rd. They have good pedigree in junior women’s quads but slipped to a disappointing 7th last year. They’ll be looking to reverse this with a good performance on Friday. They may be in contention for a top 5 spot.
Latymer Upper School
Another club who have been very impressive over the last few years. They’ve slipped slightly under the shadow of other crews this year and can only really boast of a win at Henley LDS, where they beat an accomplished quad from BGS. They still have some excellent athletes though and will be pushing for a top 5 spot, which I think they will get. Their starting position seems a little odd as they’ve been on pretty good form relative to crews around them but it shouldn’t trouble them too much. I have noticed an odd trend though in that Latymer had no athletes at Feb trials. Eton Excelsior had two who finished right down the pack, Borlase only had one and I wonder why this is. Is it to do with their age [Cut off for two year juniors] or is it because they were focusing on other things? An interesting question which I’d love to have answered.
They are the main players that I can see. Kingston Grammar School will also be strong as they had a very quad last year, several of whom have returned. Tideway Scullers will also be fast as they had three athletes at Feb trials [4th, 16th and 27th] and have put in some good performances through the year so far. Great Marlow School beat LEH at Wallingford Head in December and appear to have some decent girls down there.
Good luck to all competitors!
This photo was taken from- www.twitter.com/oarsport
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