After a long break from racing, the competition the season is beginning to ramp up again to begin the 2020/2021 head racing season. To follow government guidelines, Pairs Head this year is restricted to a maximum of 99 crews from only Tideway clubs upstream of Hammersmith Bridge making this into a battle between the local clubs. Three clubs are racing the 4.5km course in the Junior Women’s Double Scull event with two doubles from both Team Keane Sculling School and Emanuel School as well as one double from Tideway Scullers School. With the majority of these crews not having competed in this event before it should hopefully make for some exciting racing.
Team Keane Sculling School
Two crews have been entered from Team Keane sculling school into this event. One crew made up of Amelie Raymond and Jessica Weir and the other of Ellie Atkinson and Sophie Zirps. Team Keane appears to have maintained their fitness over lockdown and the summer as they have been keeping up with their team online virtual training. This should hopefully have meant that they had a smoother step back into the boat when training resumed in early September and should put them in a good place coming into this weekend’s race.
Emanuel School
Emanuel Schools’ entry into the event sees two crews representing the boat club. The doubles are made up of Maya Varley, Maddy Kitchen, Anna Varley, and Lauren McAuliffe. Maya Varley and Maddy Kitchen have experience in this event competing last year with Maya Varley coming second in the J16 double and Maddy Kitchen also competing last year in the J18 double. Emanuel School’s chance of winning appears to be promising with Lauren McAuliffe coming 3rd last year at Pairs Head in the Junior Women’s Pair as well as her having represented Great Britain in the 2019 Junior Home International Regatta where she won 2 golds in the eight and four – we will have to see if her sculling career follows the success of her sweep and can carry them to the win in the double.
Tideway Scullers School
Unlike the other two clubs competing in this event Tideway Scullers School has entered only one crew made up of Emilia Regan and Scarlette Rijkse. The double although never having raced at Pairs Head seem to have strong previous racing experience. Scarlette Rijkse has shown her experience in sculling boats with her competing in the J15 girls coxed quad at the National Schools Regatta in 2019. Similarly, Emilia Regan raced in the J16 coxless quad at National Schools’ Regatta 2019 managing to achieve silver. She also represented Great Britain in the 2019 J16 GB vs France fixture in the winning eight showing her equal strength in both sweep and sculling boats. This combination should make for an experienced double racing this weekend.
Predictions
Overall coming into the event I think it will be a challenge for top spot between the Varley/ McAuliffe double from Emanuel School and the Regan/Rijkse double from Tideway Scullers School. The experience in both crews appears promising to bring a strong battle for the win to the course.
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