Junior Women’s Eights
Wallingford Head of the river is the first Junior Women’s Eight’s event of the season, and so will be the first time to see how these crews have been developing. There are some significant absentees from the top end of Junior Women’s rowing in this event, as Borlase have chosen to compete in IM2 & IM3 Women’s 8+ while Headington are in IM1 & IM3 Women’s 8+. However, there is still the St George’s College squad entered. Their Girl’s Championship Eight came 2nd at National School’s Regatta, with their Champ 4 also taking the gold. The Gannon sisters are a key part of this section and I expect to see big things from them this season. They have not yet competed in sweep events this season, but they are very strong contenders for first and second place. One of the other stronger crews will be the eight from the developing Henley women’s squad, with a 1st and 2nd place at Four’s Head in a Quad and a Four this year alone and they ought to give the St George’s Eights a run for their money. Word on the street is that Henley are beginning to shift attention to larger boats so this will be a good stepping stone for their girls.
Junior Women’s Fours
This event has only three entries, with most Junior Girl’s Fours entered in either IM2 or IM3. The strongest contender in this field is the Molesey Girl’s crew, having beaten both of the St Paul’s Girls fours at Four’s Head and at Kingston Small boats by significant margins. Molesey’s Junior Squads have been developing well this season with a new training programme under their new coach Helen Taylor returner Matt Bromley.
All three of these crews will have raced in the morning – Molesey in the WIM3.4+ and St Paul’s in the JW8+ . Their skill and endurance will be a huge contributing factor to their success in the 2nd Division. The Molesey girl’s four for the win, followed by the two St Paul’s Girl’s crews in second and third place.
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