Wallingford Regatta is one of the first opportunities of the season for school and club rowers to race side-by-side. Attracting some of the country’s top performers as well as lesser-experienced juniors, there is sure to be an interesting mix of results. The racing is all over 2000 metres, starting with heats, from which the top six crews will progress to the final and the rest will be eliminated.
Leander Club
Speculation suggests that ‘LDR-A-2’ consists of Juliette Perry and Amelia Standing, who recently took the win at the Great Britain Final Trials. With a formidable track record, these two also won February Trials, leading the pack at Boston by a win of almost twelve seconds. Two former Oxford Blues, these women have raced five boat races between them, with Standing leading the club as women’s president for the 2021/22 season and stroke in 2019. Standing’s international career spans over seven years, with her winning gold at Coupe de la Jeunesse in 2017 and becoming World Champion in the Under 23 women’s coxless fours in 2021. Also having represented Great Britain, Perry was selected for the European Championships in the women’s coxless four in 2019 and, more recently, was selected to race at World Cup III in the women’s pair alongside Leander teammate Chloe Brew. If this is the pair combination this weekend then, Perry and Standing will be settling for nothing less than victory this Sunday.
Oxford Brookes University BC
Brookes have three pairs entered into the event, and with BUCS Regatta women’s eights races falling on the same day as Wallingford, these Brookes crews will almost certainly be full of their non-university-eligible athletes.
One of Oxford Brookes’ pairs has been entered under the name ‘Randall’, which could be the pair consisting of Brenna Randall and Martha Birtles, who competed at the Great Britain Rowing Team February Trials, placing fourth. Both of these athletes were part of the Brookes crew that won the Island Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta 2023, part of the impressive clean sweep of university events Brookes managed at the regatta. During her time at the University of Tennessee, Randall represented Canada at the Under 23 World Championships, racing in the women’s coxed four, just missing out on a medal. On the other hand, Birtles first learned to row at the University of Oxford and was subsequently selected for the Boat Race in both 2020 and 2021 before joining Oxford Brookes University to study for a masters degree. If this is the crew racing this weekend, they appear to be in good stead for a good performance.
Little is known about the other two Brookes pairs, but it would be unwise to dismiss athletes from what is easily one of the top two university or club rowing programmes in the country, and so I wouldn’t be Brookes crews make up half of the A Final.
Molesey BC
One of the best regarded club rowing programmes in the country, Molesey, has entered two pairs into this event.
Just to remind anyone of the standard at Molesey, stern pair of Molesey’s first eight, Hope Cessford and April Lemmon‘s season so far has included winning the Remenham Challenge, winning Rutherford Head by almost eighteen seconds, and placing sixth overall at WEHoRR. Winner of both the Remenham and Town Challenge Cups at Henley Royal Regatta 2021, Cessford’s experience and reputation speak for themselves. Cessford has represented Great Britain at every level- in the junior, under 23 and senior teams. Her career has included becoming World Champion in the women’s coxless fours at the 2019 World Rowing Under 23 Rowing Championships and later being selected to race at World Cup III in 2019 as part of the ‘Project Paris’ squad, where her crew missed out on a medal by a mere 1.01 seconds. Former women’s captain at Newcastle University Boat Club, Lemmon’s highlights with the Blue Star include gold in the women’s championship eights at BUCS Head 2020 and bronze at BUCS Regatta 2021. Evidently providing Molesey with a solid stern pair, I expect this Molesey crew to go well this weekend.
Molesey’s other pair consists of Lisa Goossens and Megan Slabbert. With much in common, both members of this pair rowed at universities in the USA- Washington and California, respectively and both represented their countries at the Under 23 World Championships in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, Goossens raced in the women’s eight for the Netherlands, coming away with silver, while Slabbert was racing for Great Britain in the coxless four and came sixth in the A Final. A closer competition in 2019, with both women racing in their countries’ eights, meant that Goossen’s crew won gold, with Slabbert close behind winning silver. Clearly a well-matched crew with heaps of international experience between them, Goossens and Slabbert appear to be one of the front runners in the competition.
Notable Mentions
With all of the pairs at Wallingford racing in the same category, it is very unlikely that schoolgirl crews will manage to triumph over the top club rowers. However, Wallingford is a great chance early in the season, for schools to trial potential crews for races such as National Schools Regatta and the British Rowing Junior Championships and measure up their opposition. Therefore, I think the racing between Emanuel, King’s Canterbury, Sir William Perkin’s and Godolphin and Latymer will be interesting to watch as an early marker for how their regatta seasons will progress.
Predictions
With only six places available, I anticipate the A Final will be stacked with Leander, Oxford Brookes, and Molesey, though Thames RC and Tideway Scullers School could be pairs to watch out for in the fight for a spot in the final. It is hard to look past Leander’s pair of Perry and Standing as favourites this weekend. After their recent triumph at Final Trials and no competition from fellow trialists they seem untouchable. With Leander having everything to lose, and the other crews having everything to gain, this weekend will be one to keep an eye on.
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