The junior sculling head is next week and the enormous entry of 37 crews promises racing to look forward to in the J16 coxless quads !
Well-known and high-performance clubs
The first group of entries comes from the UK’s best known rowing clubs and BR-certified High-Performance centres.
Molesey BC
One of the UK’s High-Performance centres and main GB squad feeder clubs, Molesey have entered one crew into this event and another into the women’s event. At the fours head earlier this year Molesey’s sweep senior sweep squad performed well placing two champ fours next to one another in the middle of the men’s event and another in the top band of the women’s fours.
Tideway Scullers School
One of the most well-known clubs on the Tideway, Tideway Scullers School enter two crews into this event. Their senior crews performed exceptionally at Fours Head earlier this year placing very highly in nearly every event they entered in men’s, women’s, junior and mixed crews.
Marlow RC
Another venerable rowing club on the Thames, Marlow RC, enter one crew into this event. Their senior crews performed very well at the Fours Head, with the women’s crews especially winning the Club 4x- and placing very highly in all other events they entered. The juniors were no exception with both the womens and mens crews placing very well amongst strong competitors like Henley RC, Tideway Scullers School and Molesey BC.
Henley RC
With an exceptional start to the sweep season Henley RC are clearly one of the strongest junior squads in the country and their J16 quads will certainly be looking for a top placement. Of the 10 crews they sent to the Fours Head, they placed in the top 6 with at least one crew in almost every event, and won three of these. Henley’s girls junior squad has shown incredible performance and consistency so far this year, also winning both events they entered at the more recent Hammersmith Head. The boys squad will surely give an incredible performance next Wednesday if their counterparts in the girls so far are anything to go on!
Other club entries
Team Keane Sculling School
At Hammersmith Head last month, Team Keane Sculling School entered a number of crews, as well as mixing with Parry’s Priory RC. Their J16 eight placed in the middle of their event, coming 10th out of 16 strong crews such as Eton College who placed 1st, and King’s College School beat them by a tiny margin of 0.9 seconds. Competing at School’s Head the Monday beforehand, could a crew overlap affect their performance on Wednesday?
Lea RC
Lea RC’s juniors performed well at Hammersmith Head last month, with their girls coming second in the junior quads missing out on first by a slim margin of four seconds against Shiplake College. The same girls squad also performed very well at Fours Head coming fourth in the junior quads, losing to Henley, Shiplake and Marlow. Obviously a strong junior squad, their J16 quad will definitely perform well next week.
Rowing Schools
The next group of expected entries come from some of the UK’s great rowing schools.
Queen’s Park High School
One of the few non-private schools in the country with a rowing program, Queen’s Park have proven again and again that they are a force to be reckoned with in the North. How will they stack up at Eton Dorney? Although they did not compete at Fours Head or Hammersmith recently Queen’s Park did race at Chester long distance sculls earlier this year and performed consistently in all 9 of their crews. The key crew for this event, J16 4x- attained a close 3rd losing only to two crews from The King’s School Chester, a frequent competitor. Their J16 boys squad also entered a double which placed second against Nottingham and Union RC. Although not the most well-known, Queen’s Park cannot be overlooked when it comes to junior sculling and will surely be in the running for a strong placement amongst the pack next week.
Magdalen College
Although they are one of the smallest rowing schools in Oxford, Magdalen college have competed well before, specialising in quads and fours with their smaller squad. At Wallingford LDS earlier this year, Magdalen placed second and third in the open fours event, missing out on first against Pangbourne College.
Windsor Boys School
A well-known rowing school, Windsor Boys are entering two quads into this event. At Fours Head earlier this year, Windsor entered three crews into the open junior quads winning by a huge margin of 20 seconds against Leander and placing 5th and 16th in their B and C crews. Clearly a strong squad, if their J16s can live up to the seniors they will surely be a crew to watch.
Shiplake College
With their recent controversial and incredible win at Hammersmith head, course record at SHORR and many other impressive feats, Shiplake College are clearly one of the strongest rowing schools in the country. At the Fours Head, not one of their four girls and boys crews placed lower than fourth. More recently, at Hammersmith Head, Shiplake were the overall winners beating crews from senior rowing squads, universities and schools alike, including Eton College, University of London and Tideway Scullers School. At the similar Quintin head, Shiplake placed 6th overall against enormously strong crews such as Brookes A and St Edwards School. Although senior squad performance is not necessarily going to be reflected in the J16 crews.
Predictions
Although I have failed to mention a number of crews I think those that I have will provide the strongest times and be in the top half of the results. As for top position I think the strong school entries of Shiplake and Windsor Boy’s will be in very close competition with the might of the clubs Henley, Marlow and Tideway Scullers.
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