Despite a week of weather so good that it had us nostalgic of summery regatta days, the 5km Head races are still coming thick and fast, with York City RC hosting what promises to be a great day on the Ouse- and a completely different story to last year’s cancellation due to snow drifts. This is always a thrilling event, as York attracts entrants that do not often race each other and offers a fantastic course, including a horse-shoe bend and a finish in the heart of the city. We are now just two weeks away from the coveted School’s Head of the River, and this could be the final opportunity for some junior girl’s to race before they take on the tideway, suggesting that a high standard of racing in Yorkshire awaits.
WJ18 8+
York City
The hosting club have their junior girls entered, who haven’t had huge racing experience in the eight, despite placing second out of four crews at Rutherford Head in December- losing to a Chester-Le-Street/George Watsons composite. The last time these juniors raced was at Tyne Head, in two quads, where their ‘Laidlaw’ boat was a full 20 seconds quicker than their ‘Widdowson’ crew, which tells us that their eight is full of varying ability and strength. On home water, these girls should perform well.
Durham School
The Dunelmians have welcomed a brand new eight into their boathouse and will field a new combination of rowers to go with it. The last time DS raced in an eight was the composite crew that got bronze at the Junior British Championships, all the way back in July. More recently, their coxless four at Durham SBH lost to St Leonard’s but (at the same event) their ‘Heslop’ coxed four won Women’s band 2, with the ‘Bradbury’ entry just 5 seconds slower. They had one athlete place highly in a composite pair at the GB February assessment, suggesting overall this should be the crew to win.
WJ18 4x-
York City
As previously mentioned, it was their ‘Laidlow’ boat that won this event at Tyne Head and who also posted a quick time at Rutherford Head, just losing out to Chester-Le-Street, within a strong group of quads. They also had two crews race at the Head of the Don, setting good times in the process. For Yorkshire Head, it appears like their ‘Faint’ crew is WJ16 and so it will be impressive to see if these younger girls can have an impact and cause an upset.
Yarm School
This squad of girls from Yarm have put out consistently strong performances in their junior careers across a range of events, from the Head of the Trent to Durham Long Distance Sculls and the British Junior Championships. Earlier in this season, YS won Durham Autumn Small Boats Head; in both the quad and double, showing their proficiency in sculling boats. At Rutherford Head in December, York City ‘Faint’ beat Yarm School ‘Portsmouth’ by 21 seconds and so the girls from Yarm will have needed to work diligently this winter to close this gap, although recently ‘Portsmouth’ herself performed well at GB trials.
Predictions:
WJ18 8+
- Durham School
WJ18 4x-
- York City ‘Appleton’
The Northerner
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