Amongst the nine crews competing in the WJ16 4x, a wide range of clubs and crews are to be recognised as familiar names to us all. Renowned for being a test of the athletes fitness, they will race head to head in 2021s Wallingford Long Distance Sculls making it to be an intensely competitive race to anticipate.
Henley Rowing Club
Four Henley RC crews will be hoping for the win this Saturday, with two amongst them having competed at the British Rowing Championships in July, in particular the quad crews of Lenthall and Bell finishing first and third respectively. Gwennie Hunter was part of the winning Lenthall crew at British Rowing Champs and has appeared in numerous other sculling events such as Marlow Regatta and Staines Regatta, performing well in each, proving to be a strong rower amongst others in this competing Henley crew. Likewise from the Bell crew, all members competed in the Staines Regatta performing well against teammates from Henley in the semi-final and the previous races each member of this team have competed in shows that they are a more than capable boat. Another two crews competing, Eltze and Reeves, have had members of the crew competing in top performing Henley boats such as the WJ15 8x at Junior Sculling Regatta, although there’s not too much information surrounding these two crews in particular they are certain to be strong performers based upon the select members of their crews.
Maidenhead Rowing Club
Maidenhead has one crew competing in this year’s Wallingford LDS under the name of Loras, with this crew competing at JSR earlier this year placing sixth in the A final; competing also at the British Rowing Championships and coming fifth in the A finals, they have a strong reputation as an up and coming crew to watch. There is little evidence of previous competitive racing for this crew, other than JSR, so it will be interesting to see their performance as they head on into this season’s major head race.
Wallingford Rowing Club
Wallingford are competing on their home stretch for this race making for an exciting race and lots of support from their home club! This crew came first in the C final at JSR in May and 12th out of the 30 boats in the competition of WJ15 4x, this feat should stand them in good stead for this upcoming weekend. Having competed at British Rowing Championships and being knocked out of the finals this could mean that Wallingford take this opportunity to prove themselves and make a comeback in front of their own club, adding to the tense competition.
Abingdon Rowing Club
Competing on Saturday is the crew Harrison. Coming from a club based on the Thames with a lengthy stretch of river, the long distance should be no problem for this crew. These girls have competed at JSR previously, unfortunately not reaching the finals. With no major wins in other competitions they could have their work cut out for them against the bigger clubs with more under their belt.
Headington School Oxford Boat Club
Two crews competing this weekend, Walsh and Bewes. The Walsh crew placed fourth in the A final at JSR, no mean feat, and with members of this crew competing in NSR 2021, such as Charlotte Forkun competing in the WJ15 sweep pair, and previous indoor rowing races, such as Mia Walsh in SEIRC back in 2019, they have strong and capable crews to take forward into the weekend!
My prediction is that the Henley Lenthall crew will take first place, with the Henley Bell crew in second. I’m also expecting Headington to hold a good race and come in third.
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