On a typical British spring day (depressingly overcast), the 2024 edition of the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head took place. On the world-renowned Eton Dorney Lake in Buckinghamshire, crews battled over two 1.8km pieces, with the fastest aggregate times taking the titles. With intense competition and a few striking surprises, let’s review the day of racing.
Open Junior 18 Quad
In the Open J18 Quads, Great Marlow School Boat Club claimed the title by an impressive 13 seconds despite being seeded 14th in the draw. They took the win in this event for the first time, a remarkable effort for a club that only took eighth place last year. Able to take the fastest times in both the first and second runs of the day, this crew has shown true dominance and a powerful ability to perform consistently. Despite scratching out of the championships quads earlier in the week at the Schools’ Head of the River, this may have played in their favour, inducing a fair amount of potential complacency from their competition, from which they profited.
Behind GMS, competition was tight, with the next four fastest crews all finishing within four seconds of each other. Lea RC took the best of the rest title; an impressive yet undoubtedly hollow result. Undeniably they will be looking to close the gap to GMS as the season progresses. Behind them were Maidenhead Rowing Club, Leander Club and Tideway Scullers School. However, neither Leander nor TSS put out their top crews, so it will be fascinating to see how their top lineups stack up against a far-improved GMS. Absent on the day were Windsor Boys School, who scratched from the event at late notice due to illness.
Women Junior 18 Quad
Unsurprisingly, Wycliffe College Boat Club dominated in this event for a second time, winning by an astounding 29 seconds over Shiplake College Boat Club. Following their colossal performance at Schools’ Head earlier in the week, where the course record for the championship girl’s quads was shattered by a minute and two seconds, it seemed fairly inevitable that Wycliffe would be unchallenged in this event. In fact, their overall time of 12:35 would have put them in the upper half of the pack in the boy’s event, showing just how extraordinary this crew really is.
Elsewhere, Shiplake did well to take second place, having only been seeded tenth. One of the most underrated performances of the event came from Glasgow Academy Rowing Club, who finished inside the top five in spite of a far lower seeding, and a focus on smaller boats last season. In third and fourth were Henley Rowing Club and Headington School Oxford Boat Club, who, separated by only 0.2 seconds, are sure to be intensifying the rivalry already developed on the sweep side.
Open Junior 17 Quads
Shiplake stepped into the sculling fray with a consummate performance to take the win ahead of Trentham Boat Club. They also recorded the second-fastest time of the day, just eight seconds shy of Great Marlow School in the junior 18 equivalent. The question remains as to whether this group stick it out in the quad or return to Shiplake’s spiritual home of sweep rowing.
Women’s Junior 17 Quads
Putney High School rose to the top of the rankings for the first time in what must feel like a while. As bridesmaids to an extraordinarily strong Henley crew throughout 2023, it must be refreshing to stand atop the podium 17 seconds clear of their arch-rivals. In second place were actually Kingston Grammar School, whose J17 contingent look punchy this year (their boys were third in the corresponding event).
Open Junior 16 Quads
As the majority expected, Windsor took the win on the boy’s side by nine seconds. Having taken the win in the junior 15 and 16 quads at the National Schools’ Regatta last season, they are continuing their dominance in 2024. In second and third were Lea and George Watsons College Rowing Club, stepping up well considering they were both in the B final of the junior 16 quad at the National Schools’ Regatta.
Women’s Junior 16 Quads
On the girl’s side, an immensely close battle took place, with Henley and Wallingford Rowing Club putting down identical times for the first run on the course. Leaving the rest of the competition behind, for their second runs Henley stepped up to claim the win in the event by a mere 1.6 seconds. It seems this could set a precedent going into regatta season, with more close battles inevitable.
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