Weybridge Silver Sculls 2020 – WJ17 2x Preview

Following from Pairs Head last weekend, the Weybridge Silver Sculls head race has brought a huge influx of competition to the Thames, especially so in the WJ172x category. Last year’s event saw only 4 crews race, however this year that number has risen to 16, and brought a wider variety of competition from closer to the Weybridge and South London area. This year, and in contrast to usual race formatting, the WJ17 2x class has been spread evenly across 4 divisions, making a suspenseful wait for the morning crews.
The division one girls are in for a grudge match. With last years medalists in the WJ16 2x category chasing each other down at the top of the pack. M Clausen of Barn Elms and her partner M Davidson have already made a strong start to the season, placing 6th and 9th at Pairs Head respectively. Clausen also was victorious last year at Weybridge Sculls, so despite strong competition from the Team Keane crew, going off first will prove beneficial in keeping their eyes on the opposition. There is a strong show from Barn Elms and Team Keane here, With A Raymond and J Weir of Team Keane going off second, I’m sure they’ll hope to improve on their 2nd place victory last year in the same event, these girls know the course and will use this to their advantage, even in defiance of Weir racing up an age group. Barn Elms’ second crew racing consists of M Lee and G Hilier, who again placed 3rd in this event last season 1:08s behind their victorious teammates. It will be stiff competition at the top. It would be wrong not to also acknowledge the experience of these crews, with 3 of the 6 Barn Elms girls competing the WJ154x+ event at National Schools’ Regatta 2019, placing an admirable 4th in the C-Final, I’m certain this level of experience will better their performance and execution of race tactics.
Now, there is not much known about the Molesey, Walbrook and Walton crews in Division 2. But, we know that the crew of L Earl and A Osbourne will be fiercely strong, due to Osbourne’s impressive 12th last year at British Indoor rowing Championships, in the Y11 Girls 6 Minute competition, only 106 meters behind winner Abigail Dawson. Especially when considering Molesley’s historic prestige and standard of crews, the girls of Molesey, the first two crews down the track will surely be ones to watch.
It seems that Division 3 brings some elusive competition also, 2 Walton crews race the Final TK and Walbrook boats In this event. However, there is some known information about the crews racing. Significantly, J Kemp of Walbrook will bring her experience to the table, after placing 30th at National Schools 2019 WJ154x+. However, the Walbrook girls will be chased down the course by L Freillat and G Parkin, the latter of whom is the captain of girls rowing for this season at Team Keane. I’m sure these girls will prove both interesting and challenging competition for the crews racing previous in the division, and add to the suspenseful wait that they’ll face.
Division 4, although the smallest, I feel will be the most intense. With two Tideway Scullers Crews racing the less experienced Radnor House, this will be a fast and intense end to the day’s racing. The Tideway crews are first down the course with the foremost crew consisting of S Rijkse and O Janss-Lafond, who between them have experience, both of the course and calibre of crews they will be facing. Last year, S Rijkse raced for TSS in a single at Weybridge Silver Sculls, placing an impressive 3rd, 1:22s behind fellow teammate and overall winner E Regan. Rijkse also placed 2nd in the C Final of the WJ154x+ event at National Schools last year. She is accompanied by one half of the Janss-Lafond sisters competing in the event, the other A Janss-Lafond, is following her sister down the course with F Howard, both racing for TSS. Interestingly however, it seems that the sisters have previously belonged to Walbrook, and raced alongside J Kemp, who will contend in the former division, at National Schools just one season previous, therefore it is my instinct that this may add to the rivalry between crews and push for some very fast racing. However, the TSS crews will be followed down by I Parker-Elms and H Lloyd of Radnor House, which although are a part of a relatively new program, this combination will push the TSS girls down the course at pace, even in spite of their strong history of top calibre athletes, who frequently go on to represent GB at junior and U23 level.
Whilst it is hard to get a better picture of the crews racing due to a big lack of competition over the last season, with prestigious clubs like Molesley and TSS battling the smaller, yet experienced Barn Elms and Team Keane, it will be interesting to see the final outcome of this race. I cannot bet on anyone to win, however with last years 1st, 2nd and 3rd place crews racing in division 1, I believe they will set a strong president for the following crews to match and therefore fuel the competitive nature of the overall field.

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Rachel Egan

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