As the bright sunny skies are replaced with grey clouds, the 2023/24 head season begins. To kick off the season is the Vesta Scullers’ Head, which takes place on the infamous Championship Course, and only offers racing to single scullers. As the first race of the season, all eyes will be on the competitors as they indicate how they intend to perform over the upcoming wet and bitterly cold months.
Wycliffe College Boat Club
With seven of the eighteen entries in this event being from Wycliffe College BC, the club will be one to watch as the season progresses. Wycliffe College BC is known for its strong girls’ quads, especially after having 3 qualifying at Henley Royal Regatta 2023. Four of these seven athletes competed at HRR – L. Martin in the A quad which came second to the Tideway Scullers School, E. Etherington in the B quad, and A. Flaxman and M. Palmer in the C quad. In addition to this, L. Martin and E. Etherington both competed in the World Rowing U19 Championships in August, in the quad which placed third overall. With this strong performance over the summer, they will be looking forward to the head season with determination.
Tideway Scullers School
Both of the entries from Tideway Scullers School, E. Williams and G. Allen, competed at the Home International Rowing Regatta in July. Their second place in the 8+ (500m), and third place in the 4- shows their huge potential and racing ability. However, it will be interesting to see how they transfer from sweeping in a crew boat to the single scull.
Other entries
As this race is the first of the season, it will be difficult to predict based on results from before the summer. However, a strong competitor is A. Soso of Godolphin and Latymer School Boat Club who came second in the Championship Coxed Fours at the National Schools’ Regatta in May. Similarly, both G. Parkin and P. Harkin of Emanuel School Boat Club came fourth in the Championship Pairs at the same event.
Predictions
- Wycliffe College Boat Club – L. Martin (334)
- Tideway Scullers School – E. Williams (337)
- Godolphin and Latymer School Boat Club – A. Soso (339)
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