The Oarsport National Junior Sculling Head very much symbolises the end of the head racing season for many junior rowers. With the chaos of Women’s head and Schools’ Head behind them, most clubs will now be focussing on forming crews for the regatta season and making the long anticipated cut to shorter distances of racing. The scullery is raced over 2 x 1800 metres on Dorney Lake. Results at Dorney often rely heavily on weather conditions, many are influenced by the strong cross-headwind which has been known to sweep across the lake. In order to place highly in this category, crews will have to be on top of steering, awareness and blade work as they take the course. There are a staggering 49 crews entered into the Women’s J16 4x- category this year with entries from some very competitive clubs and schools. Monday offers a high level of racing from the junior women and I definitely look forward to seeing how the tables could possibly be turned this year.
Henley Rowing Club
The girls from Henley have had a very successful start to their season. With two boats entered into the Women’s J16 4x- category they will definitely be looking to come out on top. Henley won this category last year, almost 5 seconds in front of their Headington rivals. Henley placed second at the National Schools Regatta last May behind Headington so I have no doubt they will be looking to take the title this year. We would expect the girls from the J15 quad to have now moved up to the J16 category, it will definitely be interesting to see if we have the same two crews battling it out again this year on the head course rather than the regatta. The boat racing on monday, will no doubt be stacked with some of the club’s top j16 athletes, will it be another win for Henley?
Headington School Oxford
Last summer we saw the Headington J15 4x- , stroked by Sabina Sulola and bowed by Anna Mattocks, take gold at the National Schools Regatta. Headington have an extremely high level of racing pedigree and, until last year, were unbeaten for nine years in the Women’s champ eight category at National Schools regatta. Due to this I would expect the girls from Headington to place very well on monday, they will definitely be hunting down some of the top few places. Two of the girls in this boat , Evie Holt and Claudia Rossington, have competed at the GB trials already this year so I have no doubt the boat will be ready to chase the gold medal spot. After their result last year at National Schools Regatta in both the Eight and Quad it is clear this crew have had experience racing at Dorney and battling the tough conditions it can often throw at competitors. Headington have a history with medalling in this event, winning silver in 2018, bronze in 2017 and silver in 2016. Will we see the Headington – Henley rivalry settled this weekend by this boat?
Marlow Rowing Club
Marlow have had some significant successes over the past year in this age category. Last year at National Schools’ Regatta the W J15 4x achieved a bronze medal in the A final with only a gap of 1 second between third and first place. Marlow have a history of sending several of their girls to GB trials so I have no doubt that a few of the girls in the boat will be trialists. We don’t have many results to go off of for this quad but I would expect some very competitive racing from both of the boats they have entered.
Predictions
There are several very competitive clubs entered into the Women’s J16 coxless quad event this year and I won’t be at all surprised if we see some very close results at the top end of the table. Technique will be a very important factor in the forecast weather conditions, raw power may be an advantage into the headwind but when boats are spun and ready to race again against the wind the lighter boats will have the advantage. The results will come down to who is able to maintain both technique and power when racing in the forecast weather conditions. A few clubs definitely worth keeping an eye on are; Tideway Scullers School, Lady Eleanor Holles and Putney high school. However, for the top few places I predict:
- Headington School
- Henley RC
- Surbiton High School
- Marlow RC
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