With one week to go until the Henley Women’s Regatta, many crews make the trip to Reading for a final bit of preparation, with some side-by-side racing taking place further up the Thames. The race will take place over two days, with Saturday’s 1500m race mimicking the Henley Women’s course and Sunday’s shorter 1000m race. Crews will be looking to gain as much racing experience as they can before taking on Henley.
Saturday
Women’s Single Sculls
Three of the four scullers raced at Metropolitan Regatta. Rossington of Birmingham University was ten seconds quicker than O’Flynn of Tideway Scullers and Burridge of Reading University. However, by the finals, the times were much closer, with less than five seconds separating the three scullers, with Birmingham remaining on top. I would expect to see Birmingham and Reading in the final, with Birmingham taking the win.
Women’s Double
Again, we see many crews that competed at the Metropolitan Regatta racing. The Birmingham University crew came out on top in that instance, placing third overall whilst Mortlake and Canford placed fifth and sixth in the B-final respectively. Birmingham had success earlier this season, winning the championship lightweight double at BUCS Regatta, and I would expect them to continue this successful streak.
Women’s Quad
After placing fourth, just missing out on a medal at the National Schools’ Regatta, Maidenhead will likely be hoping to step on ahead of Henley Women’s Regatta. With a win on the Sunday of the Metropolitan Regatta, ahead of Wycliffe, who were National Schools’ Regatta silver medalists, they seem to have made moves in the right direction. Reading will provide good race prep with the biggest challenge likely coming from Lea who won Poplar Regatta.
Sunday
Singles
O’Flynn of Tideway Scullers races again on Sunday, and with a different field of scullers entering, I expect more success. Hickey of Bournemouth University and Hutton-Mitchell of Notts County previously faced off in the E-final of the intermediate singles at BUCS Regatta where Hickey came out on top by a large margin. I’d expect a repeat of this result in the first round, but would give the edge to O’Flynn in the final.
Doubles
The duo from Walbrook is well established, having raced together plenty last season. Over their time racing together, they have consistently qualified for the A-final at the Metropolitan Regatta, with a third-place finish on the Sunday this year being their best result. This experience should help them take the win this weekend. I’d expect them to face the composite crew of Derby and Notts County in the final. This crew is formed of two athletes who raced against each other in the B-final of the championship lightweight singles at BUCS Regatta.
Quads
We see a straight final between Molesey juniors and an Army/RAF composite in the quads category. Molesey placed sixth in the B-final at the National Schools’ Regatta and then raced in the D-final at the Metropolitan Regatta later this season. Army RC raced a quad at Hereford Regatta but lost in the first round. I’d expect to see the juniors from Molesey take the win in this race.
Predictions
On Saturday, I expect to see success from the Birmingham University scullers following strong results so far this season. In the quads, I’d predict the wins to be taken by the junior crews as they prepare for Henley Women’s Regatta and, likely, The Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.
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