A small category due to its nature, 3rd Eights are markers of a club’s depth in numbers. The entries often fluctuate in number, no surprise considering smaller programs will have a 2nd Eight as their lowest crew. This year, the usual suspects are here: Hampton, Eton, Shiplake, and Shrewsbury. St. Paul’s fielding a 3rd Eight is a testament to their recent gain in strength at the top end. To some extent, their 3rd eight this year, may be similar in speed to their 2nd eight in a year like 2016 or 2014. By this, I mean they’ve the potential to hold some of the 2nd Eights. Last year, Eton did exactly this, coming 6th in the 2nd Eight A final. It’s no secret they have exceptional depth – the 4th Eight from that year won the B final. Considering these were a merged 2nd and 3rd Eight finals, the quicker crews in this category were able to test their mettle against crews who are supposedly faster than them.
This year, the categories have not been merged. I reckon this is to do with the aim of “a Championship Regatta with a higher standard of racing”. If they wanted to do so, keeping the 2nd Eights with 3rd would lessen the speed disparity we’ve seen in past years. On average, years where they were kept separate had a gap of 23 seconds between first and last. In years where it was a straight final, the largest gaps were seen (upwards of 30 seconds). Thankfully, junior rowing is in a better place, and all schools entered have a decent top end.
For the sharp end of this category, I see Eton, Paul’s and Radley battling it out for the top spots. This is largely based of SHORR, where a gap of eight seconds existed between the top four spots. I’m not going to launch into a spiel about improvements from training camps, but I will say it’s looking like Eton, Paul’s and Radley will walk home with a medal, perhaps in that order. Eton have made steps since SHORR, alongside Paul’s. Radley took a loss from Eton at Bedford Regatta, where local crew Bedford School lost to Radley by a large margin. It’s not often a category will be so polarised – a straight final will reveal who should really be duking it out with the 2ndEights.
Good Luck to all crews racing
3Speed
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