The pinnacle of the northern head season is upon us and this will be the first time these crews will be eligible to compete at Rutherford. Without doubt, it is going to be a challenging 4500m on the Tyne, in bitterly-cold rainy conditions, where true character will be in demand should you wish to perform well. With the chance of winning the most competitive head race in the region at stake, these girls will certainly need grit and determination, perhaps more than anything, to claim the win.
Tyne RC- Temple
On home water, this crew won WJ16 4x- two months ago, beating QEH by over 2 minutes. This puts them at a great advantage and shows they have clear knowledge of how to perform well on this course. These girls also won most recently at Durham LDS, beating their own club’s WJ18 4x- in the process. Should these girls meet the demands of the conditions, that they know all-too-well, then they are a very strong prospect.
George Watson’s College- Sinnot
It was a GWC boat that won this event at the Scottish School’s Sculling Head but it is difficult to know whether this is that combination or their ‘B’ boat. Should this be their top girls, then I predict they will be highly competitive despite a lack of racing recently.
Yarm School- Delamotte
I believe that this crew is formed of 50% WJ15s, as their top WJ16s take on another category. This makes it difficult to predict where this particular set of girls will come, however we do know that Yarm School Legge, in this category at Durham SBH were a full minute and a half behind Tyne and so a big performance will be needed to improve on this result- although they did scull to victory at York SBH (against other competition).
Cambois- Fenwick
These girls have shown some real speed over the past few months. Their WJ16 double named Fenwick has put out strong performance after strong performance, including beating various WJ18 quads consistently over the sculling series. Their double alone beat the Tyne WJ16 quad at Durham LDS by 30 seconds! Although they haven’t been racing in this quad, it would be naive to think that these girls aren’t in very strong contention for the win.
York City- Sapcote
At York SBH, the York girls finished in second place, behind Yarm School, by a whole minute. Despite this, this crew should not be overlooked and perhaps their poor performance at York was due to a lack of racing beforehand and they will return wanting more.
Queen Elizabeth High School
These girls have had a number of races the season but don’t look like they have reached their full potential quite yet. They have struggled to match the Tyne crew and so it will be good to see how much time they can gain on Saturday.
Prediction:
- Cambois RC
- Tyne RC
- George Watsons College
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