Racing over two legs of 1800m, 29 crews will contest the J18 4x category. Many crews have opted to go from the Tideway to Dorney, so the Scullng Head will give a good indication as to who has the fitness for two hard days of racing.
Lea
I must confess that I wrote in my SHORR preview that Lea were racing down the Tideway. That is however not the case. They have opted not to race over the longer course but instead to focus their efforts on Friday. Consequently they have to perform highly as they are targeting arguably the less important event of the two this week. They placed 2nd in J17 last year and will want to step on into J18.
Maidenhead ‘O’Mahony’ & ‘Kleshnev’
Maidenhead have two crews racing at SHORR and it looks like they’ve entered their crew containing top sculler Victor Kleshnev into the J17 category. This is similar to the strategy they opted for at Hampton where they had two crews in the top seven. Expect to see both crews at the top of their respective categories.
Windsor
Similarly, Windsor are fielding two crews however, the crew going of third does not contain all four of their top Scullers from Feb Trials. This suggests either an injury of maybe matched quads which is unlikely. Either way Windsor will be quick and will look to take the win.
Leander
Leander too will field two crews and will hope a strong result on the Tideway will continue over into the next day. With wins in IM2 4x and J18 at Reading Uni Head as well as strong performances from other junior crews, Leander clearly have good depth in their squad this year.
Kings Worcester
Kings have had an undefeated season but sadly we haven’t seen them on the larger circuit. Having placed third in J18 last year, they’ll look to improve on this result.
Marlow
Marlow will look to regroup following a substantial loss to Leander at Reading Uni Head. However, no doubt they are capable of this. With wins at events such as HOCR as well as strong Trials results as well as a win in J17 last year with a time that would have placed them fifth in the older category, Marlow could take the honours on Friday.
Northwich and Westminster could also challenge for top honours on the 2012 Olympic course.
My Prediction…The shorter distance will provide some tight racing but I think Leander will ultimately prevail with the others close behind.
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