Next week is a busy one for trailer loading with schools and clubs packing up shop from one iconic rowing venue on Monday and heading to another for Wednesday. The Oarsport Junior Sculling Head will be the first of the many major events to take place at Dorney Lake over the next 5 months – and this is a good one to start with nearly 300 crew boats providing all the racing a sculling enthusiast could ask for. Crews will perform two 1800m runs up and then down the lake with every single one eking out every second they can during the “quick” turn at the top end. There’s not too many events which give the opportunity for J17’s to race solely against their own age group so this is a good chance for them to see how they stack up against the rest of their year. It’ll also give them a soft indication of potential rankings next year when the current cohort of J18’s are gone (that should be taken with a pinch of salt though as there’s undoubtedly J17’s racing in Sch/4x). With such little J17 racing; last year’s J16 results are the only solid source of data for any educated predictions.
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School
The first to set off in the category, this crew from Sir William Borlase are definitely the favourites. At least one of their number (Downes) was a member from the schools J16 crew from last year which consistently ranked as one of the top in the country. They placed 4th at NSR followed by a silver medal at Brit Champs. This is a club with some history of quad sculling pedigree so perhaps this is a crew to watch over the next couple of years.
Besides SWBGS the two potential contenders are Walton and Trentham who placed 6th and 8th respectively at NSR. Beyond that clubs such as Weybridge, Nottingham and Union and Wallingford could have something up their sleeves but I think the top few will be separated from the rest of the field.
Predictions –
1st – Sir William Borlase
2nd – Walton
3rd – Trentham
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