Regatta season is finally upon us and kicks off at Dorney Lake where Wallingford Regatta will be taking place once again this year. This will be the first regatta of the season for most of the clubs and crews entered and with National Schools Regatta only 3 weeks away everyone will have their minds set on preparing and practising race plans and strategies for one of the biggest junior rowing events of the year. With a lot of the stronger junior club and school crews entered into Challenge fours rather than School fours, there is slightly less competition than would be expected in this category, although there are some stand out names entered into this category which should put out some fast crews resulting in exciting racing.
Eton College Boat Club
With Eton’s first eight placing 3rd in championship eights at School’s Head just behind Shiplake College and their second eight finishing only 11 seconds behind and placing 4th in championship eights, Eton could have potentially reselected their crews by carrying out seat racing and trialling to try and pick up some extra speed. This may not be Eton’s top four entered, however I would imagine that it would be one of their stronger crew combinations, and therefore I would expect this crew to be in the final, if not also battling it out for the trophy.
Shiplake College Boat Club
With wins in the eight at Quintin Head, Wycliffe Head and a silver medal in Championship Eights at Schools Head, Shiplake are setting themselves up to have another formidable season, building upon their impressive results from last year’s eight. Shiplake have two fours entered into this category and I would expect both their A and B four to reach the final, with the faster of these two fours fighting it out with Eton College for the top spot in this category.
Tideway Scullers School
This junior coxed four entered from Tideway Scullers could potentially have athletes from their J16 quad which achieved an impressive 4th place in the final of J16 quads at National Schools Regatta last season. Even though this crew will likely contain some strong athletes, it will be interesting to see if Tideway Scullers can make the transfer to sweep oar from their usual racing in sculling boats. An 11th place finish in School 1st 8s at School’s Head in March suggests that their eight needs some improvement, however they may have four very strong athletes who can move a four very quickly. Tideway definitely have the ability to be making it into the A final of this category and it will therefore be interesting to see if they live up to their usual high standard of results.
Winchester College Boat Club
Winchester College placed an impressive second in School Junior fours at Schools Head at the end of the head racing season, however they were a fair way off the winning junior four from Molesey Boat Club. I would expect Molesey’s junior four to be of similar speeds to Shiplake’s and Eton’s fours and therefore whilst I think that Winchester will make the final of this event, whether they can pull through to post the fastest time and win the tankards in questionable.
I would expect there to be a close fight between Shiplake College and Eton College in this event for the top spot and the trophy. However, it is difficult to predict how fast Winchester College and Tideway Scullers will be in comparison to these crews and it is also worth mentioning that Marlow Rowing Club could also put out a fast junior four, despite this club’s junior squad being predominately known for their sculling speed and ability.
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