Moving away from competition on the Tideway, we head to Wallingford for a shorter yet no less intense race. 4000km long, we will be treated to some of the best Junior Women’s rowing in the country.
Henley RC
After a superb start to the year, dominating the field at Fours Head, Henley is the clear favourite heading into this race. Their strong J16 cohort has apparently survived the move into the senior crews and Henley is looking to defend their Wallingford titles for another year. With one of their juniors winning U19 trials, Henley is in a strong position to do well throughout this Head season.
St Paul’s Girl’s School BC
SPGSBC has had a strong start to the season, with crews winning Pairs Head and challenging Henley at Fours Head. It will be very interesting to see how the crew manages on a shorter course and if they can make up those few seconds that separate them from their competition. With several coaching changes over the past few years, it seems that the crew has finally settled, allowing them to build on their progress from last year.
Headington School
The elusive Headington crew have yet to appear at any race this season, however, a strong contingent has been representing the school at both U23 and U19 trials. After losing to finalists Winter Park Crew at Henley Royal last year, Headington will want to showcase their work over the summer following an intense training camp over the half term.
Other entries
Other notable crews entering the JW 8+ category are Latymer and St Edwards School. Both schools came off with notably strong results at Fours Head this year and are looking to challenge the top crews.
Prediction
All the aforementioned crews have a chance at finishing in first position, but I believe that Henley’s dominance will continue for another head season. The fight for second place looks to be tight with Headington and SPGS being likely to battle it out. However, everything can be turned on its head with a cox making an incorrect turn or an unlucky time penalty completely changing the fate of a crew.
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