St Neot’s Small boats head is a bit of weird one, I’m not going to lie. The idea of splitting up ‘all’ 5 scullers into different divisions is quite remarkable rather than setting them off all at the same time. This is why I think predictions could possibly just fly out the window and results will be based on who has the better conditions. The race takes place over 2600 metres and with that lets get on with the preview.
Bedford- Sheridan
He was part of the Bedford 1st 8 which went to Henley last year, at the age of 16. His brother Jared is a powerful athlete and we should be expecting the same level of ‘meat’ to be laid down by Connor. The big question is, if he can move a single which even good sweepers find hard through a slight lack of dual coordination. Which isn’t required in the single shaft sweep side of the sport.
Bedford Modern- Thorton
Part of the current Bedford top quad, a unit which performed well last year after leaving sweep oars behind for some sculls. He was part of the J16 Four that picked up a bronze at JIRR last year. Thorton may not be as big as Sheridan but his ability to make the quad should give him a platform to scull off. Confidence is key to winning a sculling event and Thorton will be showing no fear getting into his single scull.
Star Club- Rubens
Rubens is a hard athlete to pin down. His focus on rowing is sometimes questionable, as we saw last season with him dipping in and out of the 1st quad. However in all fairness to Rubens his strong steering ability will lend itself well to the course. He will defiantly be the one to look out for because if on form he should be red hot.
PET-Roberts, DEB-Wroe
There isn’t much information on these athletes out there. So it is possible one of these two could be the winners, however I cannot predict what I do not know.
Prediction
I predict that the couple years experience that Rubens has over the other two main competitors: Who were sweepers up until this point will give him a strong position to win. However if one of the two Bedford schools were going to win it, I would have to say it would be Thorton who will be making the permanent change to sculling this season. This is because I can’t see Sheridan being able to apply his power fully and effectively
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