The sculling events at Wallingford are always of exceptional quality, showcasing the best of British sculling. The quad event here will likely feature crews that will aim for the Prince of Wales Cup at Henley this year (the only intermediate sculling event at the regatta), with some athletes probably doubling up for the double. The single also looks to be an exciting showdown between some potential Diamond Sculls entrees.
Challenge Quad
An event so often dominated by Leander, the Pink Palace is once again well represented in this straight final. Leander really is stacked with great scullers, and, given their win in the Prince of Wales last year, they’ll come in as hot favourites for this regatta. They also had a great run at Fours Head, taking the top two spots in the Men’s Championship Quad, though some of those athletes will likely be in the eight this weekend. That being said, both of the Leander crews entered here will undoubtedly be very quick.
Thames also have two quads entered here, with the top quad likely to be the only boat that could conceivably challenge Leander. There are some fantastic scullers at Thames at the moment, including ex-Princeton athlete Joe Wolfin and Henley winner Matt Christie, and they had a great run at Fours Head to take fourth in the Men’s Championship Quad. If these Leander crews are at all weakened, with the top athletes in the sweep events, then there may well be space here for a top Thames quad to cause an upset.
Star & Arrow, Leander’s development programme, and London will likely be fighting it out at the bottom of the final, but both these crews should be quick too – London have some great scullers, headed up by Olympic single sculler Dara Alizadeh.
Prediction
This will be really hotly contested, but I’m going to go with Leander ‘A’ out front, with Thames ‘A’ in second, and Leander ‘B’ in third – just ahead of London.
Challenge Double
This is quite tricky to predict, as chances are virtually none of these crews will enter Henley in the double (an event generally reserved for international-standard crews). There will certainly be speed on show here, however.
Thames look to have split their quad into two doubles for this straight final, and will want to claim two spots on the podium. Leander have one double entered here that may well have come from their top quad. Marlow and Globe are unknown quantities here, but both clubs have produced some great sculling boats in the past, and shouldn’t be discounted. Finally, South African Schools Rowing Union have two doubles entered here. It’s difficult to know how these juniors will fare, and whether this regatta is forming part of a longer international campaign. Certainly, if they’ve made the trip, they’re unlikely to be slow; watch out for either of these doubles.
Prediction
I’m going to go with Leander in first, with Thames ‘A’ second and Thames ‘B’ third.
Challenge Single
One of the most exciting races of the day, featuring a straight final of really fantastic scullers that will all be eager to show their prowess.
The name to immediately jump out is Dara Alizadeh, who is rowing for London this year. Dara rowed at Penn before coming over to Cambridge, winning two Boat Races in 2018 and 2019. He moved into the single scull in 2020, winning the seat for his home country, Bermuda, and representing them at the Tokyo Olympics. He’s a very experienced sculler at this point, and is favourite here.
That’s not to say there won’t be a significant challenge ahead of him if he wants to take home the top spot. Greenbank Falmouth’s Tim Wilkinson is a really experienced sculler that took third at the Scullers Head in Championship Single, just behind Jamie Copus. He’s followed by Cambridge 99’s Will Young, who was fourth at Scullers Head and is a fantastically technical sculler. Windsor Boy’s School have entered the brilliant young sculler Jack Cadwallader, who has represented GB at the 2022 Munich Junior International Regatta. These three will likely be in close contention.
Prediction
It’s hard to predict anyone but Alizadeh for the top spot, and I’m going to go with Wilkinson behind him, with Young in third.
Best of luck to all crews.
Five Man
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