This event always signifies the start of the head season and gives a glimpse into the depth of the field for the proceeding season. This year we have a gargantuan entry of 100 scullers with Abingdon dominating the field, holding 19 entries. There are a fair few scullers that have experience of this event and therefore I’m predicting a very tight field. Both St Pauls and Eton have a strong list of entries with a sprinkling of their crop coming freshly out of the Junior World Championships.
Star and Arrow
Leander have a multitude of strong scullers with, in my opinion, Tim Eilers being the most notable. Having placed 4th last year, he will be hungry to achieve the top spot as well as cementing his seat in the Leander top quad. I think he will be very tough to beat due to his successes in the past year such as the win at Reading small boats and placing second at Fours head in the J18.4x-. The likes of Matt Peters and Joe Murphy will also wish to set the stage from the start of the season after a great past year in which both competed at the Coupe de la Jeunesse.
St Pauls
Pauls have entered a mass of strong competitors with two of the biggest names being Thomas Horncastle and Oliver Parish both of whom have not long returned from Junior Worlds. It will be interesting to see whether they can scull as well as they sweep. Gillard and Beekenkamp have both come from last year’s second eight, so I’m sure that they will be trying to impress in order to jump into the top eight. Craig-Mcfeely placed well at last year’s Long-Distance sculls too and isn’t someone to discount. The pedigree of rowing from Pauls will definitely be showcased at this year’s Wallingford LDS, and top spaces should be expected to be filled by a handful of Paulians.
Eton
Eton will be looking to ruffle St Pauls’ feathers this year after their tough past season, Max Shakespeare will be leading the assault after also racing at Junior Worlds. They will be determined to get on the front foot and break Pauls’ mentality. Shakespeare should use his raw power to assert himself, but it is yet to be seen whether he can scull to the same level as he sweeps. His crew-mates from last years 1st 8, Swidler and Pearson, could provide an unexpected result. The Etonians are not a force to disregard.
Henley
Henley’s most redoubtable sculler is probably Balthasar Issa. He had a strong performance at the National Schools regatta last summer placing 3rd in the B final and reaching the Friday of racing in the Fawley, where they were knocked out by the formidable finalists; Maidenhead. This year’s LDS should be expected to contain fierce competition between a stacked field. O’Connor is also a strong candidate to place highly after a successful previous season, in which both he and Issa won at the Metropolitan Regatta in the J18.4x-. Henley will carry this lineage into the Wallingford LDS and most likely claim top places, if the S bend is negotiated well.
Abingdon
After a tough past year, Abingdon will be looking forward to trying to surge back to the top of the field. However, the majority of their squad are more practiced in sweep. Therefore, I cannot predict whether any of the squad will place well in this event.
Radley
The Radley squad is composed of last year’s 2nd and 3rd eight crew. The second eight came 4th at Nat Schools in the 2nd 8 Final therefore they will be looking to follow on from years before and dominate the school-boy rowing circuit from the get-go.
Westminster
Perhaps taking the bid to make their top 4 athletes a quad last year will pay dividends in the small boats section. After returning back to the Fawley, they got through to Day 3, where they were knocked out by the winners of the event; Windsor Boys School. They placed highly at Schools Head of the river last year, then asserted their strength by winning championship quads at Wallingford Regatta. However, the 7 of the 8 entries are from the 8 that raced in the Champ Eights event at National Schools Regatta where they placed 5th in the B final. Will they be able to ride the wave that their old boys have set for them?
Predictions
There’s a multitude of scullers that have the capability of grabbing top places but my prediction is that Tim Eilers and Joe Murphy from Star and Arrow are going to come in the top 5, with Balthasar Issa bagging himself a place amongst them. Thomas Horncastle and Max Shakespeare will undoubtably be contesting for the same places, but it is unknown whether their sculling can match their sweep and therefore whether they will get those places. However, it is the start of the season, and for this reason it is almost impossible to accurately predict who will place where. I’m very excited to see what happens on the day.
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