Hampton Small Boats Head returns to the river once again after the cancellation of last year’s race. This year it will get the green flag, following the suit of the inaugural Junior Fours Head. This gives many of the crews who were disappointed with their results two weeks ago a chance to rectify them and show where they truly belong in the standings, and it gives the crews who finished in the top spots of Junior Fours Head an opportunity to solidify themselves as a competitive crew this season. Eleven junior quads will race down the course this Saturday, all of which are relatively local crews, with the most distant travelling from Stratford-upon-Avon. The locality of this draw will undoubtedly lead to hard-fought, close racing between crews that will all have something to prove against one another.
Marlow Rowing Club
Marlow Rowing Club will feel a mix of excitement and disappointment after seeing the draw. The disappointment stems from a fortnight ago, when they were pipped by Shiplake for the Junior Fours Head of the River title, arguably one of the most prestigious a J16 quad can win; without Shiplake racing, they will have to wait for another race to put things right. However, this brings excitement, with Marlow having a real chance to earn some silverware and build confidence going into the new year. Their Junior quads have led by example, as Marlow took home the Head pendant in both open and women’s quads at Junior Fours Head of the River; showing that Marlow is really moving forward, and that these young scullers can take huge faith in their program and their coach, Pete Chambers. Can they follow the lead of other Marlow crews by putting a gold medal around their necks?
Barn Elms Rowing Club
Barn Elms Rowing Club finished seventh at the Junior Fours Head, which is an impressive result in such a competitive category as J16 open quads, and one that cannot be discredited, even if, from a glance, this finish wasn’t quite at the level their opponents this weekend were. However, only 18 seconds separated Marlow and Barn Elms, which, once the 6.8k course – that was raced in coxed quads – is accounted for, may turn out to be closer than it seems. This will make Barn Elms quietly confident going into the weekend’s race, where it is all to play for.
Walton Rowing Club
Another rowing club that has crept up to a very high standard of junior sculling over recent years is Walton Rowing Club. Walton has produced some of the finest talent in British rowing, such as Morgan Bolding, who won gold in the men’s eight with Great Britain at the Paris Olympic Games. So far this season, Walton has had few results to their name, likely due to the hard work they have been putting in along the Thames, opting for weekends of hard training rather than racing. Who knows, maybe Walton are hiding their next Olympian in this current cohort of junior scullers?
Molesey Boat Club
As the only club who have entered two quads into Saturday’s race on their home water, Molesey Boat Club is clearly planning to put the pressure on their local rivals. At the recent Kingston Small Boats Head, Molesey just fell short to Barn Elms, and had Walton Rowing Club finish just one tenth of a second behind them; this weekend gives them the chance to overturn Barn Elms’ triumph, but with Walton breathing down their neck, Saturday’s results could go to any combination of these three crews.
Wallingford Rowing Club
Wallingford Rowing Club, following a hugely successful junior campaign last season, will aim to replicate the previous year’s success and put pressure on the top crews this weekend. The Junior Fours Head saw this quad finish in the middle of the pack, a strong result but not quite the standard of previous Wallingford quads, so this crew will look to push on as the season progresses and really challenge for the top spots. Just last month, this crew raced the Reading Small Boats Head, where they narrowly lost to Marlow by three seconds, demonstrating their speed and ability to try to overhaul the other crews in this event.
Predictions
A category comprising local crews, all of which have raced each other before, Saturday should prove to be intense racing between clubs that are bitter rivals, which always leads to tantalisingly close results. I predict Marlow Rowing Club to come out on top based on their top results at the Junior Fours Head and their dominance of junior sculling at all levels. However, Barn Elms Rowing Club and Walton Rowing Club will push them right to the line, and the result could very easily go to one of them.
