With the grand and more hectic annual regattas like Henley Royal, Henley Women’s and BUCS Regatta wrapped up, it leaves the final few titles to be contended for before the end of the summer. With the crews on the top of their game in the thick of regatta season, the competition is sure to be fierce, though the recent heatwaves may have affected some club’s training in a way that could shake up the order. It’s a fairly big pool of entrants for the club women’s quads, with 11 crews entered from ten clubs, so we should see some interesting battles.
Nottingham Rowing Club
The only club to enter more than one crew, home club Nottingham Rowing Club have shown strength recently, taking part in the ‘big three’ of Henley Royal, Henley Women’s and the National Schools’ Regatta. At HRR, they had a big showing of crews overall, though not in this category: though their women’s eight were eliminated from The Wargrave Challenge Cup early on, they held a very close race and led at both the Barrier and Fawley. At HWR, they entered widely in the small boats events, suggesting confidence in their sculling: notably, a crew consisting of an athlete from Nottingham and one from Northampton RC won the Junior double event. This strength as a club is further suggested by their success in the Girls’ Championship single at the National Schools’ Regatta. Though there are few recent results to indicate their strength in the quad, their recent success in sculling overall, their entry of two crews, and even the marginal gain that being on home turf will bring, they are likely a club to watch.
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Boat Club
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Boat Club will likely come to the Club Championships fired up, as they’ve had mixed success in the quad recently. In June they earned several medals at Marlow Town Regatta in the quad, though at Henley Royal they were beaten decisively out of the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup on the Tuesday and similarly had less success in this event at Nat Schools. However, given the extremely competitive field they were up against, their prior success at smaller events suggests that they could still have a strong result this weekend.
Sir William Perkins’s School Boat Club
Sir William Perkins’s School Boat Club have been quick in the quads at the major regattas recently, giving them confidence going into this event. They had strong results in The Diamond Jubilee at HRR, getting to the quarterfinals where they were beaten by Tideway Scullers. Having reached the A-final in this event at National Schools’ Regatta behind frontrunners Tideway and Wycliffe College, and being beaten out of the semifinals at Henley Women’s by the latter, they are clearly established as a competitive club with some real speed in this category. With their main competitors absent from this event this weekend, taking first place seems well within reach.
Other entries
Other entries include Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club, who were recently beaten in a quads event at Henley Women’s by Nottingham Rowing Club; fellow home club Nottingham County Rowing Association; and Lancaster University as the only student crew in this event.
Predictions
With the form Sir William Perkins’s School Boat Club have been on so far, I would be surprised if they didn’t give the others a fight for the top spot. I reckon the fight will be between them and the Nottingham Rowing Club ‘A’ boat, though given the range of clubs entered and the variation in their recent competition, a club may well put in an unexpected strong performance.
