With the post-Henley blues setting in, British Rowing offers a chance to continue summer racing with their Club Championships. The five crews entered will compete in a preliminary race for lanes before the final where the winner will take home the title of British club champions and, most importantly, some new dryrobes.
Auriol Kensington
Auriol Kensington have competed in the eight throughout the season. Early in the season, they placed 3rd in the unbanded eights at Nottingham City Regatta. After racing at Poplar Regatta and Metropolitan Regatta, Auriol Kensington qualified for the Copas Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta before losing their heat by one length. Having not qualified for the Wargrave Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, a win here would end their season on a high and with their extensive side by side racing experience, they are in a good position to do so.
Leeds Rowing Club
Also competing at Nottingham City Regatta, was Leeds Rowing Club. They were entered in the development eights category which they placed first and fifth in indicating the depth of their squad. At Peterborough Regatta, Leeds placed third in the band 1 eights on both days. Although they’ve got some race experience, I think they’ll be a bit off the pace at the club championships.
Cambridge University
With athletes from the Blue Boat and Blondie ineligible for the club category, the two crews from Cambridge are likely formed of their development athletes that have come from their college programmes. Although these crews are less established than others entered they are definitely not to be dismissed with similar crews taking the top two spots last year and they will be looking for a repeat of that this weekend.
Sudbury Rowing Club
It’s surprising to see Sudbury entering an eight this weekend as, last year, they only had 3 women competing. At last year’s championships, Sudbury won the mixed club fours category as well as the B final of the championship doubles. I don’t think they’ll have the speed to keep up with the more established crews this year however.
Prediction
I think the front runners for this event are Auriol Kensington, however, after their success last year, the two development eights from Cambridge University are certainly not to be dismissed.
