This weekend’s Weybridge Silver Sculls provided a great start back into head racing for its scullers after such a hiatus from competitive (or any, for that matter) rowing. The event had 300 entries — as opposed to last years over 400 — a decent number given the Covid-19 restrictions not only on the head itself but also on rowing in general. The event was a big success for Tideway Scullers, in particular, followed by Walton and Weybridge — the latter, particularly in the younger events. Here are some of the most impressive wins.
Junior Men’s 2x
The fastest junior men’s crew was Oliver/Hansen of Tideway Scullers, with the blistering time of 12:42. The J18 2x was a reasonably close race, with Oliver/Hansen coming in just 14 seconds faster than Walton RC’s second-place double.
There was an exciting result from the J17 2x, with Walton RC’s Zeghibe/Hawes winning just under a full minute before the second-place crew, Burway RC, in an otherwise close (if small) race.
Weybridge consistently won more in the younger events, securing a win on Walton in the J16 2x.
Junior Women’s 2x
The fastest junior women’s crew was Scheske/Regan, also of Tideway Scullers. They pulled an impressive 14:19 time. The most significant gap between two crews was between first and Walbrook’s second-place crew with a 39-second difference; all others were around 2 or 3 seconds. This shows how high level the Tideway rowers are starting off the head season as — it’ll be interesting to see how the other crews, being neck and neck at the moment, shape up as the season progresses.
We had a very close race from the WJ17 doubles, with Morland/Boddington of Walton RC scraping the win by 12 seconds over Radnor House School. It was a tense, reasonably large, and exciting race all round, with several ties for other placings.
There was more success for Weybridge in the WJ16 2x, placing both first and second. Maybe Weybridge’s success in the younger categories is the sign of some rising stars — though only time will tell. This was changed in the WJ15s however, with Tideway Scullers winning by over a minute against Barn Elms which was the only other crew entered.
Junior Men’s 1x
Tideway’s J18s continued to excel in singles with G. Obholzer taking the Demerera Cup at a time of 13:57, 21 seconds faster than Walton’s second place.
St George’s College did better in singles than in the doubles on Saturday, as evidenced by their J17 win. This could be as a result of spending more time in singles in the phased start back into rowing.
Junior Women’s 1x
The WJ18 1x was an incredibly interesting race, showing St George’s College’s strength in the singles further. The winner of the Bonnie Bird cup was A. Walters, with a time of 15:28. This was too close race with Z. Scheske of Tideway Scullers (who if you’ll recall won the doubles event) coming in merely one second behind.
There was a different winner entirely for the WJ17s, with I. Parker-Elms of Radnor House (who narrowly missed the win in the doubles) taking first place with a time of 15:37 — by a decent margin, too, of 44 seconds.
We had another close win for the WJ16s. Nicely enough, my prediction I made earlier in the week of Tideway narrowly taking the win was correct — in fact, only by one second! Tideway’s time was 16:36, with Walbrook following right on their heels.
BoatmanAndRowbin
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