One of the first races of the fall season is the Wallingford Long Distance Sculls event, which will be held this Saturday, September 25th. This sculling race spans a grueling distance of 4250 meters over a time of almost 20 minutes! What makes it even more impressive is that rowers racing in these mentally and physically strenuous events are only about 16 years old. Though the field of rowers is relatively small, this will undoubtedly be an exciting event to watch. Here is the breakdown of the competitors in M16 single scull race:
Guildford Rowing Club: Verny White
Guildford Rowing Club has a whopping six entries in an event of just nine. Verny White has experience racing in a coxed quad, which he did at the Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head. He was the stroke of that boat, the seat traditionally taken by the most technically-skilled rower. In a sport that requires consistency and technique when the rower is pushing themselves to their limit, that prior experience will certainly give him a leg up in this race.
Guildford Rowing Club: Oakey
Oakey has rowed in a variety of sculling boats, including singles and doubles. In the Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head, back in October 2019, he pulled a solid time of 8:19 in a 2x in the J15 section. He also competed in a single in the same regatta, and barely nudged out a win against another rower, who was within a second of his time of 8:36. His experience with sculling boats will serve him well going into this long-distance race.
Guildford Rowing Club: Kennedy
Competing with the rest of his team at the Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head, he was a competitor in both the single and double sculls. He performed well in both races, placing seventh out of fourteen in the B group for the individual sculls. He also placed seventh out of fourteen in the double with another rower in the field, rowing an impressive time of 8:14.
Guildford Rowing Club: White
White rowed with Kennedy at the Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head in a double. He also raced in a single, achieving a time of 8:35. This put him fourth in the A group. This time also gives him the fastest single scull time (at the Small Boats Head) out of the competitors in the M16 1x. This bodes well for his performance on Saturday.
Radley College Boat Club: Youngman-Sullivan
Though Youngman-Sullivan doesn’t have a lot of recorded sculling experience, he does have some race time sweeping. His experience stroking an 8+ in the Marlow Regatta — finishing with a time of 6:47 — will help him in terms of setting a consistent pace in this long-distance race.
Stratford-upon-Avon Boat Club: Happel
Compared to the other rowers in the field, Happel has a considerable amount of sculling experience. Over the summer, he competed in the British Junior Rowing Championships. He achieved a time of 6:20 in the 1500m time trial, placing him in the D-final. He finished that race with a time of 8:17, just four seconds shy of first place. In 2018, the Stratford Boat Club placed third in the M16 1x event, when Tyler rowed a time of 18:54.9. We’ll see if Happel can continue the streak for his team.
Wallingford Rowing Club: James
For this event, James will be competing on his club’s home course. The Wallingford Rowing Club Junior Men’s team’s strong performances have been sparse on this course, but they undoubtedly have the ability to put themselves on the leaderboard. Back in 2018, they placed 2nd in the J16 double section, and 3rd in the J15 coxed quad, on the long course. Hopefully, James can cultivate that energy and place himself among the top rowers of the group.
Prediction
Honestly, it will be hard to make a sure assumption for the J16 singles, with so many variables it is hard to predict a victor, however it will be hard to not see Guilford taking medal positions this weekend ahead of the field.
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