With SHoRR comes the triumvirate of Head races: SHoRR, the Junior Sculling Regatta, and Womens’ Head in quick succession. With the recent Quintin Head having acted as a practice run for the crews, we can expect them to step up a gear as we hit the peak of the head season. With the usual suspects in the Girls’ Eight categories in the Championship or second eight events, admittedly it’s a slightly peculiar combination of clubs. In any case, SHoRR will be a useful, albeit briefly so, indicator of how the two big following races will go.
First on the cards is Emanuel School, who came exactly in the middle of the pack at Quintin but lagging behind the the tighter affair for second, third and fourth places. With most of those challengers gone, they’re in good shape to have a tilt at the title. Of late they have consistently been followed by Putney High, including at Quintin, Wallingford Head, and Fours Head. Could Monday turn the tide, or be more of the same?
Also active recently have been Godolphin and Latymer, who placed between Emanuel and Putney at Quintin; Bedford Girls’, who raced many of the other entries at Wallingford (albeit earning a penalty of 10 seconds); and Shiplake College who I’m told got in some extra practice on the Tideway in their eight recently in lieu of racing there at Quintin.
Other familiar names, albeit having had less chance to compete in eights lately, are Tideway Scullers, Enniskillen Royal, and King’s Sch, Worcester. The latter won the WJ18 event at the somewhat sparsely populated Wycliffe Big Head this year, followed by other entry Monmouth Girls’, but whether this leans on the three-club pool of entry remains to be seen.
Prediction
I imagine it’ll be between Emanuel, Putney High, Shiplake, and Godolphin and Latymer for the top spots in this relatively large pool, and with there being slightly less known about the latter two oddly I reckon they’ll come out on top in the end. In any case, given the quick onslaught of the three main head races we’ll be out of suspense soon.
BoatmanAndRowbin
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