After a somewhat disappointing head season so far, with many major events cancelled due to the weather, clubs will be looking forward to Wycliffe Small Boats Head to get racing and test their building fitness. This is an exciting head race along the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal, where the shorter distance and range of categories available will provide close racing, as well as the bridges at either end of the course to look out for!
Singles
With a lot of different singles categories across the 3 divisions, we’ll see how well these scullers can deal with the challenges of head races alone, especially in the near freezing temperatures forecast.
There’s a huge entry in the WJ15 1x, with multiple scullers from Stratford-upon-Avon BC and Sir William Perkin’s School looking for medals and to establish their position within their clubs. There’s also WJ17 and WJ18 singles in Division 1, the latter of which I’d expect to see N Philips of Wycliffe College dominate, being an international medallist for GB at Coupe this Summer. However, I’d expect some closer racing by the WJ17s between the Wycliffe, Stratford-upon-Avon and Wallingford scullers. I think Vondrak from Stratford-upon-Avon will take this one, after a solid performance at Wallingford Long Distance Sculls earlier this season, placing seventh in the WJ17 1x in a competitive field.
In Division 2 we have the low PRI singles events, and it’s good to see a range of clubs entering and going for medals in what could be some scullers’ first race. Finally the last event of the day is the WJ16 1x with twenty entries from 9 clubs. This looks to be a closely contested event and will perhaps show early signs of who will represent WAGS & Wales at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta in spring. Fawcett, Janes and O’Reilly (AB Severn and City of Bristol) raced a composite quad at the British Rowing Junior Championships last year, proving their combined speed by placing third, but it remains to be seen what they can do alone, and whether the scullers from Stratford-upon-Avon, Hereford and beyond will challenge them.
Doubles
We start off with the less experienced doubles – the Rookie 2x in Division 1 and the WJ14 2x in Division 2. The latter should be a good race between the Thames Scullers and Stratford-upon-Avon girls, with both clubs racing the WJ14 4x+ at Wallingford LDS and coming away third and fourth respectively: Thames took the lead there but maybe this result can be overturned in the smaller boats. I think we will also get some excellent racing in the W 2x in Division 2 between the Sir William Perkin’s School and Wycliffe Junior RC doubles. SWPS have good history in the double, with Thornton having raced in the WJ16 2x that came a close third at National School’s Regatta and represented GB at the J16 GB-France match last year, and have started this season strong with an impressive win at Reading Small Boats Head. However, Wycliffe are a highly established programme on the JW scene and I’d expect their double to challenge for the win.
There’s a strong showing again from the WJ16s in the 2x, and with Henley taking up 4 of the first 5 spots I’d expect them to dominate this event as they commonly do in the younger age categories – they’ve shown their strength already this season coming first and second at Reading SBH in the WJ16 4x and 4- respectively. Then it’s the WJ18 2x in the third division, which I think Wycliffe College will take as they’ve entered their top athletes, but which half of their quad is quicker remains to be seen.
Quads
Starting off the event we have the WJ14 4x+ and it’s great to see quite a few clubs having enough younger athletes to race one or more quads. Thames Scullers came third in this category at Wallingford LDS so clearly have some speed, and I’m sure the large programmes of Henley and Wallingford will be putting out some quick crews too. The WJ16 quads are also looking competitive: Henley won at Wallingford LDS but will be challenged by SWPS, with E Nicholas being the other half of the WJ16 2x that represented GB in Summer.
In my opinion the most exciting race of the day will be the showdown of Wycliffe College against Henley RC in the WJ18 4x – with both clubs putting their top four girls out fresh for this event. With Fours Head cancelled we haven’t seen many of the big clubs going head to head yet, and both crews will want to put down a marker at this early point in the season. Wycliffe have a wealth of international experience in their boat with three Junior Worlds medallists (in the 4x and 4-), and have started the season strong dominating at Scullers and Pairs Head on the Tideway. However Henley will be out for revenge after last year and have the strength and depth to turn the results around – especially with their stroke F Weiser returning from the quad and two girls becoming international medallists at Coupe this Summer. I think Wycliffe will take the win here, but the true test will be in who can stay consistent over winter and come out on top in regatta racing in the summer.
Sweep Events
I think the W 2- in division 3 will see some of the closest racing of the day, between the top athletes from Henley RC, SWPS and Wallingford. Henley’s JW are a force to be reckoned with in both sculling and sweep boats and their ability to switch effortlessly between the two is enviable. I have to back them for the win here due to their huge collection of national and international sweep medals, but the composite pairs from SWPS and Wallingford will not be giving this up easily. It’s an interesting decision to enter composites here as I imagine they can’t have had much time training together, but it’s really exciting to see and can definitely be backed – for example the same two clubs came second in the WJ16 4x at Brit Champs last year. Wallingford were very successful last year sweeping at the WJ16 level (winning the 8+ at National School’s Regatta and the 4+ at Henley Women’s Regatta) so I imagine some of those girls will be returning with high expectations this season. SWPS aren’t as commonly seen on the sweep circuit, but MacGregor and Woodburn did represent GB in the WJ16 2- at the GB-France match so clearly have speed in this smaller boat.
The WJ18 4+ is largely between the same clubs, with some Stratford-upon-Avon fours also challenging. It’s interesting to see Henley choosing to sweep when offered here, and could perhaps indicate a decision to stick with the 8+ over the 4x in the long run this season, on the contrary to last year.
Summary
Overall this will be an action-packed day showcasing junior rowers ranging from novices who only started recently, to international medallists and those who’ve been competing for years. I’d especially look out for the WJ16 4x and WJ17 1x in Division 1, the WJ18 4x, W 2x and WJ16 2x in Division 2 and the W 2- and WJ16 1x in Division 3 for close and high quality competition. Good luck to all who are racing!
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