This Saturday, 546 crews will undertake the 4000m course across three divisions, with the second division being a comparative ‘sprint’ of 2500m, which is sure to trip up some crew’s pacing after the fruitful regatta season. Competing clubs this year include Mossbourne Rowing Academy, Leander Club, Wallingford Rowing Club, St Paul’s School Boat Club, Stratford-upon-Avon Boat Club, Pangbourne College Boat Club, Reading Rowing Club and Latymer Upper School Boat Club (listed in boating order).
As many juniors’ first race, Wallingford Long Distance Sculls provides some tense Thames racing just south of Wallingford. This event will showcase the potential for future talent, since it is these juniors who will one day step up to wear the GB vests and represent our country.
Mossbourne Rowing Academy
Setting off the race for this category, Mossbourne will be in the best position with the ‘cleanest’ water (compared to their trailing opponents). Their squad for this event is composed of 9 scullers, a strong showing from a club which has already proven that its newly J16 athletes show promise. Their coxed four claimed the silver medal at the National School’s Regatta in May, an applaudable achievement, however it will be interesting to see how that success translates into sculling, and if training over the summer holidays has successfully facilitated this transition. This club hasn’t been seen in this category last year either, potentially bringing in some new blood to raise the competition.
Leander Club
With a lone sculler pursuing the two Mossbourne athletes off the start line, Leander look to have upheld the tradition of going for quality over quantity. After coming second last year, Leander will strive to relive success of this year’s fantastic Fawley final at Henley Royal. A big ask for a junior, it may be, but individual athletes at this age are already embarking on their journey to potential international glory, with the J16 GB vs France match the first opportunity for these athletes to gain a national vest. The Leander athlete also comes from an excellent coaching basis, which has secured countless Henley Royal wins in the past, along with even more National Junior events.
Wallingford Rowing Club
With three competitors in this year’s event, scattered around the draw, Wallingford will certainly be looking for a good day’s racing. Having not raced in the event last year, it will be interesting to see how they fare up against the returning clubs. However, their J15 (now J16) sculler won the Oxford City Royal Regatta in August, while their J15 quad collectively achieved two respectable 4th places at the National Schools Regatta and British Rowing Junior Championships last year, which I’m sure will have motivated them over the summer and start of ‘winter season’ to train even harder to step up onto the medal podium this time around.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
Renowned for their schoolboy eights (which won the PE in 2022 and narrowly missed out in 2023) St Paul’s are looking to thoroughly exercise their J16 cohort in singles this Saturday.
They are also fighting to defend Karadogan’s title (who recently represented Team GB at the Junior World Championships), with fellow St Paul’s scullers out in full force this weekend comprised of 11 scullers — the largest contingent from any club in the category — all aiming to recreate last year’s decisive victory in this category.
As far as a prediction goes, I think Leander winning is a safe assumption, despite the apparent ability of Mossbourne (who may well surprise on the day). The disadvantage of dirty water could affect the Leander sculler, leaning victory potentially to a Mossbourne competitor, however I think that with such experience on the Thames, the Leander sculler will be unfazed with challenging conditions. The strong numbers of St Pauls could yield a success amidst the crowd, and so the ‘volume’ approach could prove fruitful. We will just have to wait until Saturday to find out!
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