Wallingford Regatta this weekend is consistently a popular event and the first regatta of the year for the majority of clubs entering. This category is always exciting as we move into summer and clubs begin to think about qualifying for the Diamond Jubilee at Henley Royal Regatta. There is a notable absence of many henley RC athletes in favour of Munich International Regatta where they will race for the GB team, which opens competition up a little, although no doubt they will continue to prove their fantastic depth.
Globe
Globe have had some very good performances in recent times, with Siobhan Samuel progressing to race in the quad at Coupe last summer (alongside Latymer opposition, Carter Nelson). There is no result for this quad from either the Scullery or School’s Head, but Globe showed a strong 4th place finish in WJ1.2x at Pairs Head back in October as well as some good performances at trials this year from Julia Olawumi, so this crew definitely has the potential to do well.
Headington
Headington seemed an untouchable force at the top of the game for many years, but this season they seem to have come a little unstuck in the wake of Henley RC’s success. Top sculling athlete Mattea Wuethrich will be a huge asset to their quad, but at the Scullery, they only placed third behind Henley and Latymer, so it might be that even without Henley competing this weekend, Headington still don’t find themselves in the top spot that they’d seemed so settled in.
Latymer Upper
Latymer’s girls have consistently performed in the quads for some time now, although their season last year didn’t pan out as expected after a finishing with a bronze medal at the National Schools Regatta, they were knocked out in the heats of the Diamond Jubilee much earlier than anyone had anticipated. They won the School’s Head quads category this year, which will set them up well, but of course as we move into summer, other clubs will start to race quads alongside their eights and competition will only get tougher. The W Schools 4x- should see competitive racing between them and Headington, whilst we would expect Sir William Perkins and Tideway Scullers to be up at the top end of the category.
Sir William Perkin’s
Sir William Perkin’s have had a really positive start to this season, with a 4th place finish at SHORR and a 6th place finish at the Scullery in stiff competition. However, they will be missing top sculler Emily Keen for both the Junior Sculling head and Wallingford this weekend as she competes for the GB team at the Munich International Regatta, which will undoubtedly affect their performance. Having said that, this will serve as excellent race experience for the rest of the crew and they will likely still be looking to finish at the top end of this event.
Tideway Scullers School
TSS have a huge squad to work with this season. They didn’t race at the Scullery, but finished 6 seconds behind SWPS to take 5th place at SHORR so seem to be of a similar speed. With absences in the SWPS crew, this seemingly opened the door for the TSS girls to put in a good performance this weekend, but of course top performer Izzy Lack will be competing alongside her SWPS opposition at Munich. Both crews face a new challenge in their absence and it will be interesting to se who comes out on top.
Prediction:
1.Latymer
2. Headington
3. Tideway Scullers
RockOver
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