There are only four sculls entered in both the J18 and J17 girls single this weekend, making it a slightly less competitive event than others. Since the larger programs have entered their girls in mainly coxless quads for the first division, it will be interesting to see the performance and standard of these athletes from smaller clubs, who I’m sure are often overlooked and underestimated.
Stratford-Upon-Avon
Entering 2 sculls in J18 and 1 in J17, Stratford-Upon-Avon is the only club that has more than just one single entered, increasing their chance of a medal for their club. At the British Championships in 2021, Stratford-Upon-Avon got into the A final for J16 fours and B final for J18 fours. The club obviously tries do both sweep and scull disciplines as they raced a quad as well, coming C final at brit champs and 22nd in the time trial at Nat schools. Already in this new season, they have shown that this club’s crews are improving and becoming more and more competitive, coming 3rd in a quad at Wallingford head.
Hereford RC
The Hereford sculler, Beth Weaver is entered as J17 and has shown some promising speed in other boats. Beth came 5th at the British virtual indoors competition 2 years ago, showing that she naturally has enough power to row fast on the water and win medals. We all know that saying “ergs don’t float” but coming 4th in J16 pairs at Brit champs in 2021, shows that this Hereford rower can transfer her power well. Despite this, it is relativity difficult to swap from rowing in a pair to rowing in a single scull so it will be interesting to see Beth’s speed.
The other scullers entered are from Hereford Cathedral School, Avon County RC, The Cheltenham Ladies’ College, and Dart Totnes ARC. All these programs have had some varied levels of success in the past, but since a scull only needs one quick and determined rower, the single event is one of the most likely to be won by smaller clubs with fewer girls to choose from.
Overall, I think the safest prediction would be that one of the Stratford-Upon-Avon scullers will win the woman’s J18 sculls, however, it would not surprise me if a couple of the J17s, such as the Hereford sculler, gets the fastest time.
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