The importance of this race has increased dramatically since the cancellation of the fours/quads events at School’s Head. The last race before regatta season, it will prove to be the deciding one for the head season for many crews racing here. Junior Sculling Head is rather unique in that it is a 4km race being held on a 2km stretch of water at Eton Dorney. Crews will race up, be given time to spin, and race back down. With 37 entries, many crews will be vying for high finishes, but here’s our prediction of who will make up the top spots
Tideway Scullers
There haven’t been that many chances to view the speed of quads this season; but at every opportunity, Tideway has impressed. 10th in (J18) champs 4x at Fours Head, 1st (by 28 seconds) at Hammersmith. Bridesmaids last year in J16 4x at NSR with a bittersweet Bronze Medal, this year could see Tideway ascend to the top in J16, and the Scullery will act as a huge indicator. They may have lost the home water advantage they would have had on the Tideway, but nonetheless, they will be gunning for the top spot.
Claires Court School
Second last year in J16 4x at NSR, Claires Court have established themselves as fierce competitors on the junior sculling scene with a win in the Fawley Challenge Cup in 2016 and reaching the final in 2017. At J15, this year-group finished a disappointing 41st and 51st at NSR, far below what would be expected of a Claires Court crew in recent years. However, much can change between J15 & J16 and, with 11 years experience with the boat club, Tom Jost is very capable of crafting a medal-winning crew out of these athletes.
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School
It’s been a few years since we have seen the dominant quads of Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School, with their last big success coming in 2015, when they secured the triple of Schools Head, National Schools, and the Fawley Challenge Cup at Henley. However, this Borlase crew finished an impressive 5th out of 61 crews racing at NSR last year, and only 6 seconds off of first place. Their J16s last year also finished in 5th, and you can guarantee that this current crop will have their sights set on bettering their predecessor’s results. Junior Sculling has been at its most competitive at the top end in the past three years, leaving Borlase somewhat out of the limelight, it could be time for their J16s to force a return to the top.
Trentham Boat Club
In a sport with boat clubs that can trace their roots back 200+ years, Trentham is a relatively new competitor on the scene. Founded in only 2004, this has not held them back from throwing their hat into the ring. NSR last year did not see huge success for the senior squads, however, their J14 and J15 squads won their respective 4x events, with the J15’s finishing 1st out of 61 entries. They weren’t due to race at School’s Head, potentially due to the distance – they are based in Stoke-on-Trent. However, they have chosen to make the journey down south for Junior Sculling Head. The last time these athletes raced at Dorney, they returned with a gold medal. They will want to do the same this time.
Wycliffe College
Like Trentham, Wycliffe doesn’t necessarily always come to mind when one discusses the famous sculling programs. However, their newly formed junior club has experienced early success, with 3 silver medals at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta last year. However, their J16s could provide another source of silverware. Second out of an absurd 61 entries in J15 4x+ at Nationals last year behind the aforementioned Trentham, they have already had a taste of fighting for the top spot and will want to go one better than last year at Dorney. If they were successful in their endeavours, it could herald the beginning of a new force on the Junior Sculling scene.
Prediction
The form book has very much gone out the window for this one. Cancellations across the head season have limited the amount of information available to judge crews speeds, and the status quo for junior sculling has been upended by new programs. Though the more senior the age group, the more likely the established programs are to succeed, never presume the script has been written. The progress of the less well known crews in this event will be the object of great interest for the next few seasons and, I for one, love an underdog story.
My Prediction:
- Trentham
- Wycliffe College
- Tideway Scullers
TidewaySweeper
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