Pairs Head of the River 2018 – Championship Women’s Junior 18 Doubles

Pair’s Head is always a highly anticipated event for competitors. It will be very interesting to see how crews perform in smaller boats, especially right now at the start of the new season. With a very strong draw, including multiple competitors from certain clubs, I think that this event is looking to be quite tight, and will certainly provide excitement for those spectating.

Sir William Perkins School – Keen, Ayoade, Martin

With three athletes entered for this race, Sir William Perkin’s School will most likely do rather well. Emily Keen has been rapidly increasing her rowing portfolio over the past season, most impressively of all taking home the bronze medal in the women’s double at this year’s Coupe de la Jeunesse. Keen also represented GB at the 2018 Munich International Regatta in the double and came 5^th overall in the single scull at the GB Rowing Junior Regatta this year. Her previous achievements include a win in the WJ17 2x at the 2017 Burway Small Boats Head and a gold medal at the 2017 BRIC as part of the relay team. Denise Martin also participated in the 2017 BRIC, coming 13^th in the 6 minute race and 11^th in the 500m race. She has most recently won gold in the J16 2x at the British Rowing Junior Championships. Meanwhile, Ella Ayoade raced in the J18 2x at the 2017 Burway Small Boats Head, taking first place, and also competed in the J18 4x at BRJC this year, taking home the gold medal. Overall, SWP looks as if it has very strong entries for this race, so it will be interesting to see how they do.

Tideway Scullers School – Supple

Orla Supple most recently represented England in the double sculls at the 2018 Home International Regatta alongside fellow TSS rower Ruby O’Keefe, where they took 1^st place, helping England take first place overall. Prior to this, Supple’s double came 4^th at the 2017 Junior Sculling Regatta. Supple has also raced at the 2017 British Rowing Junior Championships, where she took 4^th place in the B final in the single scull and bronze in the coxless quad. The experience of racing at the HIR should stand this double in good stead for the coming race.

Leicester RC – Henry

Lauren Henry has just come to the end of a fantastic season and I am sure that she will be looking to start off this new season in the same impressive manner. She has come home with wins from almost every race she’s competed at this year, beginning with a win in the WJ18 single at Boston Head. Leading on from this, Henry has been successful in both the single and double at Peterborough Spring Regatta, where she took gold in both categories, as well as taking gold in the single scull at Junior Sculling Regatta and also at Junior National Championships. The season was topped off for her with a win in the single scull at the British Rowing Junior Championships in addition to a strong performance at Henley Women’s Regatta, where she made it through to the semi-finals. It will be very exciting to see how she performs in this event, racing as part of a composite crew with Exeter RC. With such a strong season just behind her, I’m certain that Henry will continue to impress in the coming season.

Maidenhead RC – Sinnott

Beth Sinnott has also had quite a successful past few seasons. In 2016, she took home silver at the WJ15 2x at British Rowing Junior Championships. She came 3^rd in the ChG 4x at National Schools Regatta and raced in the WJ16 Championships doubles at last year’s Pair’s Head. Given her past experience racing the course in the same boat, it will be interesting to see how Sinnott does in the double this year.

Kings School Ely – Garrett, Lancaster

Two more very talented athletes, both Rebecca Garrett and Holly Lancaster have done very well over the past couple of seasons. At the 2017 Ghent International Spring Regatta, Garrett and Lancaster raced together in the WJ16 2x, coming 3^rd overall. Lancaster then went on to race in the WJ18 coxless four which took gold at the International Belgium Junior Championships. At the British Rowing Junior Championships in the same year, both girls raced in the WJ16 4x, taking the win in the A final, and Lancaster then took 5^th place in the WJ16 1x. At the 2017 Junior Sculling Regatta, Garrett and Lancaster took 2^nd place in the WJ15 2x. Holly Lancaster has begun the process of trialling for the GB squad and has been collaborating with the GB Start team, and in 2017 competed at the GB trials in Boston, coming 5^th overall in the single sculls and 10^th in the double. Most recently, both girls raced at the 2018 British Championships, with Holly Lancaster coming first in the WJ18 single and Rebecca Garrett first in the WJ18 double. Overall, it seems that both girls are in with a strong chance at doing very well, however it will be interesting to see how they do when competing against each other, given their shared record of wins.

Predictions:

With a very strong draw, including competitors from Walton RC, Lady Eleanor Holles School and Shiplake College in addition to the athletes mentioned above, this event is looking to be a very exciting one. I would imagine that the top places will go (in no particular order) to Holly Lancaster, Lauren Henry and Emily Keen, so I look forward to seeing how the racing pans out.

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Lucy Lloyd

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