It’s the start of a new season once again, and for all these crews it will be their first race as a J16- and what better way to kick off the campaigns of these 14 boats than the 4.5 KM Wallingford LDS. With its notoriously tricky S-Bends, steering will be a key factor in the success of any of these doubles, and it remains to be seen who will come out on top.
American School in London
The 2 crews entered from the ASL remain relatively unknown, but the two strokes, Yardley and Eaton, rowed at stroke and 2 respectively in their J15 4x+, coming 29th at National Schools in May. It’s possible that these two boats are made up of the bow and stern pair from that quad, or that they include other members of their J16 squad. However, I’m not expecting anything special from either of the boats, given their performance at NSR.
Dulwich
Dulwich have entered 7 different crews into the event, ranked from A-G, most of whom rowed in their J15 1st and 2nd eights last season. Ganem, Oakley and Bichard rowed at 7, 4 and 3 in the J15 1st 8+ that came 15th at National Schools’, so I would expect all of their partners to be from that 8. Connellan, Green and Alekseyev all rowed in the 2nd 8+ that came 16th at NSR, with their partners again probably coming from that 2nd 8+. I think that these crews are probably all fairly proficient scullers, especially the top 3 crews, and will probably be looking for a high placed finish on Saturday.
Radley
Radley have entered 3 J16 doubles into the event, and at this point in the season I can’t say too much about them. However, it appears that the strokes of the A and B boats didn’t race at National Schools last year, with the C boat being stroked by the 6 seat from Radleys 11th NSR placed J15 2nd 8. This means that I really can’t predict their speed, but I don’t think that these crews will be from the very top end of Radleys’ J16s.
Wallingford RC (Francis)
Wallingford does occasionally produce some excellent oarsmen, and on their home stretch, this double will be looking for some silverware. The boat is made up of last years J15 4x+, which came 4th in the B final at NSR, an excellent achievement for a club like Wallingford, particularly in an event which saw over 60 entries. This means I’m expecting this crew to be fast, and a strong favourite for the overall win.
Ross RC (Roberts)
Although I know very little about this crew- I would expect that they mainly row in sculling boats, and if it is made up of the top two athletes from their J16 squad, it could be quick, as sometimes small clubs like Ross can produce strong crews in these small boat’s categories.
Predictions
I’m expecting Wallingford to come away with the win, perhaps by some margin, followed by some of the higher ranked crews from Dulwich and Radley. However, at this point in the season its hard to say, and perhaps one of the other doubles could cause an upset.
MarginalGainz
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