Due to a severe lack of sunshine and masses of wind and rain last season, there were sadly very few races that went ahead, including the cancellation of most of the events at the Schools Head of the River. Therefore many crews have had limited race time this year but after an Easter break, where many have been away on training camps, crews seem set up to compete for the upcoming regattas, with this weekend being the first.
Headington School
With a potentially surprising 9th National Scullery a few weeks ago, it is certain that this crew will have been training hard on their France training camp in order to up the rankings of the finish table. A club that normally produce strong performances against their close rivals, proven by a recent success of an previous club member being selected for the recent Blondie boat race crew, it would be surprising not to see them gain a top 5 finish this Sunday
Henley Rowing Club A & B
Henley are known for their strength and consistency so it was no particular shock to see them gain 1st and 3rd at National Scullery. Again like many other crews they will have had limited race time last season, but no doubt this will affect them this coming weekend. With two crews entered I would be anticipating them to place in the top 3 and maybe even take both 1st and 2nd.
Lea Rowing Club
This Hackney based crew seem very much to be going from strength to strength this year and rising up against their local rivals. A 4th place finish National Scullery will have given them confidence going forward into their Easter training. Thanks to Lea Spring Regatta taking place last weekend the crew will already be in the regatta mindset, and will have given them a boost moving to this weekend where the competition will be tough.
Marlow Rowing Club
National Scullery provided a slight surprise in terms of results with regards to Marlow, as normally I would expect to see them in a much higher place finish than 8th. However the women’s junior 18 category this year are extremely strong and, in the limited number of races, there have been few consistent patterns of the top 5, demonstrating how competitive the category is this year. Clearly for Marlow intensive training will have taken place over the past few weeks to ensure the crew are looking fit for the coming events, in order to finish this season with the outstanding results they often achieve. This weekend will be a test to see how they can compare to those around them in a different race style to National Scullery.
Tideway Scullers School Rowing Club
After a training camp up in Nottingham on the multi-lane course, there is little doubt that this crew will be raring to go this weekend for Dorney’s regatta season to start. Unlike most others in this weeks competition the crew chose not to race at National Scullery but did manage, despite the odds to get some other racing in last season with a 3rd and 4th place finish at Hammersmith Head back in April not far from Lea’s 1st place finish. It will be exciting to see how well this crew competes with the mass of pressure that builds up when racing at Dorney.
Predictions:
1st: Henley A
2nd: Henley B
3rd: Lea
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