Pairs Head 2016- WJ182-

With Pair’s Head being the first tideway race of the season, many notoriously good clubs have entered in strong crews in junior women’s pairs, which should make it a fairly tight and interesting race. Due to the fairly high number of crews in this event we will only be reviewing the strongest crews.

LEH- Henshaw/Benson

Henshaw and Benson both had a very successful regatta season this year, winning bronze in ChG8+ and GJ168+ respectively. However both of these girls have been slightly less successful in smaller boats, with Henshaw coming 8^th in ChG4- at both National Schools and Brit Champs, and Benson racing in LEH’s second J164+. LEH is a very strong club for junior women’s sweep however, and I’m certain these girls will still be able to put out a good time on Sunday.

Henley- Pearson/Edwards

Henley appear to have split their top four athletes into a pair and a double, meaning that this Henley pair won’t have to worry about any competition from their club mates. This crew is certainly very strong, having won silver at both National Schools and in ChG4-, demonstrating their talent for sweep in particular. If this pairing can build on last year’s result of 3^rd place, they could be looking to take the top spot.

LEH- King/King

Coming from the same school and with the same surname, these girls are presumably sisters and I’m sure they’ll be trying to use this relationship to their advantage on Sunday. They’ve already put in some strong performances such as a bronze in GJ168+ at National Schools and whilst they were in the GJ164+2, they then proceeded to enter WJ162- for Brit Champs which they won well ahead of the GB France pair, proving their talent for this particular boat class and I’m sure they will be aiming for one of the top spots on Sunday.

Emanuel- Hayes/Jenning

Emanuel doesn’t have a very big J18 girls squad compared to some of these other clubs, however Emanuel still put out some strong results last summer. Whilst it’s not championship event and with many strong clubs such as LEH and Henley choosing to race eights that day instead, Emanuel still managed to win girls first 4+ at National Schools in May. This combination has also had experience racing together in a pair, with a solid 4^th place result at Brit Champs in July. This result combined with their experience of training on the tideway course should give them a lot of confidence coming into Sunday.

LEH- Reddish/Snelling

Snelling is the only girl racing from the LEH GJ164+ which won silver at National Schools, and combined with Reddish who won bronze in the ChG8+ and was 8^th in ChG4- at NSR, I believe this may be LEH’s top crew. If they are the fastest from their own club, I am sure they’ll still be aiming for the top spot on Sunday to assert their dominance over both their own club mates and their other local rivals.

Thames- Price/Umbelino-Purton

Price does not appear to have yet raced for Thames, however her partner has had some experience at major junior events last season. Although Umbelino-Purton’s previous performances have not put her crew in the running for the top 6 spots, this new partnership can take advantage of their home water and aim to put out a decent result this weekend.

Marlow- Claridge/Matthews

I am unsure of which Matthews sister Claridge is paired with for this race, however due to Marlow’s good depth I am sure this pair will have a decent amount of speed. With Marlow’s J18 girls’ results from last season including 4^th in ChG8+, 5^th in ChG4- and a bronze in ChG2- at National Schools this year, Marlow will be a force to be reckoned with on the weekend, although they may not have the speed to beat some of the other top end crews.

Predictions:

1. Henley RC
2. Emanuel
3. LEH-Reddish/Snelling

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