Just a week away from one of the biggest opportunities for juniors to race some quality crews in the season, the Metropolitan Regatta is a valuable stepping stone in the run-up to Henley Royal Regatta. A good day of racing against some of the top senior crews in the country requires speed in the time trial and a cool head (and even more speed) in the final. It says a lot about a crew’s strength to perform well in this race.
Tideway Scullers School
Some will say the stars aligned for them, others that they’re just that good: but Tideway Scullers School managed a historic comeback from six seconds down in the time trial to win the Sherriff Cup by the same margin for the first time in club history. A full two seconds clear by the 500m marker, there was no touching this crew. The near-coastal conditions at Nottingham were similar to those this club is used to on the Tideway. Known to get stronger throughout the regatta season, coach Rhona MacCallum has set up this talented squad for a fearsome campaign in the lead-up to Henley Royal Regatta.
Wycliffe College Boat Club
Wycliffe College Boat Club continued their strong results by taking silver at the National Schools’ Regatta. As a testament to their squad depth, their second quad (also racing at Metropolitan Regatta) won their event by some 20 seconds. Last year’s crew won this event, beating two matched crews from Leander Club, setting up a flawless season. Wycliffe College Boat Club will now set their sights on upsetting Tideway Scullers Schools’ recent success. Most recently at Dorney Lake, at the Junior Sculling Regatta, Wycliffe College Boat Club controlled their final from the very first stroke to win the junior women’s quads by nearly three seconds.
Sir William Perkins’s School Boat Club
Sir William Perkins’ School Boat Club top quad has not been prolific in recent regattas. Instead, they raced in smaller boats at the Junior Sculling Regatta to great success, while sculling stalwart Nicholas raced the Munich International Regatta. However, they recently slotted back into their crew to finish sixth at the A-final at the National Schools’ Regatta. As they settle back into their quad, I expect this crew to quickly build back onto a competitive pace. Last year, a very similar crew sat in a strong fourth at Metropolitan Regatta before dropping back to seventh in the dying stages of the final. If Sir William Perkins’ School Boat Club can refine their blistering race pace and hold it to the very end, they’ll be poised for another strong performance this weekend.
Claires Court School Boat Club
Claires Court School Boat Club haven’t shown any signs of slipping so far, punching towards the top of the pack with a sixth-place finish at the Schools’ Head of the River Race and a bronze at Wallingford Regatta. They qualified into the A-final of championship quads at the National Schools’ Regatta – beating out a much-fancied Henley Rowing Club crew to the last spot in the final – before scratching from the race for unknown reasons. Whether this was an innocuous decision or a symptom of illness or injury is yet to be discovered, but the steady progression of this crew through the season leaves little doubt that they will recover sufficiently in just a week. In such a competitive field, Claires Court School Boat Club would do well to repeat last year’s result, when a rapid final 500m rewarded these girls with fifth place overall and third among junior women’s quads.
Kew House School Boat Club
Kew House School Boat Club’s most senior rowers were absent from the National Schools’ Regatta due to Sunday’s cancelled racing: a particularly stinging outcome for standout athletes Taylor-Aubrey and Thurnham, who were a fancied entry into championship pairs. They’ll move into the quad with a point to prove – the past few years have shown huge development for Kew House School Boat Club, including qualifying their eight into the Prince Phillip Challenge Trophy at the Henley Royal Regatta for the first time last season and earning both Taylor-Aubrey and Thurnham international vests. A swap into the quad for Metropolitan Regatta is a promising opportunity for this squad once again to establish themselves as a major challenger against well-drilled crews: though Kew House School Boat Club may not have raced this boat in a while, early indicators such as their seventh place standing at Schools’ Head of the River Race suggest that this could become a very competitive crew just as summer racing hits its peak.
Maidenhead Rowing Club
Their third place at Schools’ Head of the River Race was clearly no fluke, as Maidenhead Rowing Club outdid themselves once again to finish fourth in championship quads at the National Schools’ Regatta. They’ve gone against the grain for Metropolitan Regatta by only entering Sunday’s racing, where they will face a much smaller field. Given the latter’s current form, it may be too much to hope that Maidenhead Rowing Club could beat Wycliffe College Boat Club once again, but they are certainly a strong bet for second place on Sunday.
Notable Mentions
Headington School Oxford Boat Club used the National Schools’ Regatta to prove they can never be counted out, outperforming their time trial performance by four places to win the B-final by a massive seven seconds. With much of their competition opting out of Metropolitan Regatta, an opportunity lies in wait for this crew to fight their way onto the podium. Marlow-based crews Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Boat Club and Great Marlow School Boat Club may have been disappointed by their results at National Schools’ Regatta, finishing 16th and 17th, respectively, after being battered by Nottingham’s headwind like many other boats. Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Boat Club, in particular, will have had high hopes in the run-up to National Schools’ Regatta, following some excellent results this season and the success of athlete Clarke at GB trials. Perhaps both boats will fare better on the more familiar waters of local Dorney Lake. With rower Dallas named to the Shiplake College Boat Club crew, I expect this quad to primarily comprise their coxed four, fresh off taking silver at the National Schools’ Regatta, while their schoolmates notably swept both championship eights events. While it may take some time to adapt to a different boat class, this strong crew may find extra speed riding the high of such a successful weekend.
Prediction
After their awe-inspiring racing in Nottingham, Tideway Scullers School are surely the favourites to take the top spot. Wycliffe College Boat Club, of course, will not let them go easily and may well start to close the six-second gap that separated them last weekend. Claires Court School Boat Club and Sir William Perkins’s School Boat Club should make a hard tussle for third.
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