With 24 entries this should be the best example of Junior Women’s Fours so far this season. Because of the Women’s Challenge Coxed Fours race and the Women’s Junior/School Eights race that both take place as straight finals in the morning, most of the girls will have already raced once already by the time this event starts.
Headington School- Headington is going into this race as very strong team for Junior Women’s Sweep. Their Eight is slated to win after a very successful season that has included placing 9th at Women’s Head of the River. Even though it’s possible that Headington’s top eight girls will race in both the Junior and Challenge Eights and skip the Four altogether, they still have the depth to put a successful Four.
Henley- Heat A is going to be stacked with both Henley and Headington in it. Henley are another obvious crew to mention in this race, as they have proven themselves to be strong in sweep boats this season. They won this event as well as the quad event by a good margin at Fours Head in the fall, proving they have speed a depth. Even if they choose to have their top four girls in the quad, they are still capable of doing very well in this race.
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School- SWB is another good crew from Heat A. It’s very hard to imagine them taking down Henley or Headington in the heats, so it is very likely that they will race the repechage, which will put them at an disadvantage if they make the finals. They are a capable crew who placed second behind Henley at Fours Head, with a strong time.
SASRU- It’s hard to say much about this boat from South Africa but it should be interesting to see how they perform on Sunday. They have been fairly lucky with who they are racing in Heat C, with St Paul’s Girls’ School looking like their toughest competition. If they can’t win this first race, it is unlikely that they can make the final.
Lady Eleanor Holles School – A- LEH is in a good place to win their heat and get to the finals. They placed third at Fours Head in the fall and continue to put out strong women’s sweep boats. It’s worth noting they were still some time behind Henley at Fours Head, so while they may not be able to win, they are still in a good position coming into this race.
Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls- Haberdashers’ experienced a good win at School’s Head this season in this event, which should give them some confidence going into Wallingford. However, they will face new competition today, especially with LEH in their heat. Haberdashers’ is probably at a bit of a disadvantage here but they may just have the strength to get through to finals.
With three very strong teams in Heat A, the crews in the other heats will really need to try and win their first races if they want to get to finals.
Predicted top three:
1st place – Henley
2nd place – Headington
3rd place – LEH
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