For the J18 girls, there’s a hefty entry in the singles category, but a much smaller doubles entry. Both should be some good displays of racing.
WJ18 1x
This is a strong category full of talented scullers. Because there are so many entries, I’m going to focus on a few of them individually – the scullers who I feel will have the strongest chance of taking home the title.
St Edwards School – Catlin
Tilly Catlin is fast becoming a leading presence in GB junior rowing. She’s both strong as a sculler and a sweep oarswoman, and she proved this through consistently high performances in a single at GB trials – 14th was her best result – and ultimately a selection in the women’s pair at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in 2015. The girl’s side of GB is incredibly competitive, with a large number of girls competing for very few spots, so she did well to place herself at the top end of the girls team at Coupe. She also played a leading role in the Teddies first eight last year, and is now captain of the girl’s squad. She’ll be a force to be reckoned with here.
Mossbourne – Roe
Kes Roe is a product of a fast-developing and impressive system being put in place at Mossbourne, and it’s exciting to see athletes like Kes coming through the program so strongly. She’s a fantastic sculler, proving this with a win just last weekend at Wallingford LDS – almost 10 seconds in front of one of the Orr sisters, who represented England in the Home Countries Regatta. Roe should be looking to get as close to the top spot as possible.
Pangbourne College – Giambrone
The Giambrone sisters of Pangbourne College are strong scullers in their own right. They went through the trials process last year, and they could stand to do well here. They were at the forefront of the Pangbourne girl’s squad last year, and I think they could really stand to make a serious impression on the junior rowing scene this year. All I can hope is that there isn’t too much of a time difference between the two girls at the finish line!
Pangbourne – Dunn
Dunn was another member of the decent Pangbourne College 1st VIII last year that performed decently at NSR. She’s part of a decent squad, and she may well perform well here. There are many girls in this category who are currently J16s, so I’d imagine that Dunn’s experience alone will stand her in good stead.
BTC Southampton – Green
I’m excited to see this sculler race tomorrow. She’s from a pretty fledgling program for juniors attempting to compete at the highest level, and yet she’s been doing incredibly well in her single, topped off with a great performance at NSR in 2015. I think she’s got a chance to do very well tomorrow, if she can utilize her power over the longer head-race course.
Prediction
I’d expect St Edwards – Catlin to take the win here, with Mossbourne – Roe in second and one of the two Pangbourne – Giambrone sisters in third.
Five Man
WJ18 2x
With only three entries in this category, and two of them from Pangbourne, I might as well go straight ahead in predicting a winner. Pangbourne – Dunn will probably have the better calibre of athlete in the boat, with Dunn, as mentioned above, being one of the strongest members of the Pangbourne squad. The other entries here are relatively unknown, but I’d watch out for Reading RC – they performed decently at Wallingford last weekend in the singles, and I’d say that they might have a shot at taking down Pangbourne tomorrow. They’ll have their work cut out for them though! Not really any more to say here really – apart from wishing all the crews – singles and doubles – good luck.
Five Man
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