Head season is upon us. The first major head race in nearly two years is here and it’s one of the toughest. Running the near 7km Championship Course, the Sculler’s Head is a gruelling mental and physical challenge which pushes rowers to their absolute limit, over the 20 minutes it takes to complete.
The Windsor Boys’ School
Windsor Boys dominates this year’s J18 category, entering 10 of the 22 scullers racing. As one of the strongest junior sculling centres in the country, these rowers will feel more than at home in a scull and should be able to put down some impressive performances. The club has some history in the event with 2012 olympian and Windsor alumnus Adam Freeman-Pask winning overall in 2011. With all 8 members of the club’s successful Henley crews racing on Saturday WBSBC has a very strong entry indeed. Included in this number is Chute who won the J16 category the last time the event was held along with Warren and Ioras who came 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Westminster School Boat Club
A club which has seen success in both sweep and sculling in recent years Westminster have 2 scullers in this category. Both Polychronopoulos and Griffin competed in the school’s 1st VIII at NSR and Henley. Polychronopoulos raced the event in 2019 finishing 15th. The home advantage gained by these two rowers will help them to shave crucial seconds off their time as steering on the Tideway is no easy feat and it takes practice to find that all important racing line.
Molesey Boat Club
A single sculler races for Molesey at the weekend. Leppard Jnr has shown proficiency in small boats in the past, making the A final of Ch 2x at NSR. It will be an added challenge for him, warming up and boating alone, but perhaps the added focus and sole responsibility of flying the club’s colors will allow him to finish higher up the results table.
Predictions
Besides the clubs mentioned above Tideway Scullers School and King’s College School Boatclub along with a few other centres have entries into the first event of the 2021/22 season. It would be unwise to write anyone off but I think Windsor Boys will dominate the results as well as the entries. The top three could well be the same as the J16 2019 podium and the question is not which club will win but rather how far another club will be able to penetrate the ranks of Windsor further up the results.
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