And so here it is: summer racing is upon us. The customary tradition of going on training camps during the Easter break will likely have been upheld by most clubs competing here, providing them with an opportunity to hone their speed away from their home water and the prying eyes of their competition. Twelve eights are entered into the first of the 2000m ‘Dorney Regattas’, and after decently tight racing at the Schools’ Head of the River Race only a month ago, this definitely will be a race to watch. With close competition, it is almost certain this race will form some good indicators about who will be the frontrunners at the National Schools’ Regatta in May.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
After a win at the Schools’ Head of the River Race that was likely too close for comfort, with King’s College School Boat Club only 1.1 seconds behind, these boys have likely been straight back to work attempting to refine their 2k speed ahead of the National Schools’ Regatta. They’ve clearly got the power on board; they sent six of their crew to GB April Trials. There’s no denying their power. It’s pretty much unheard of to have a Junior 16 eight with six triallists on board, but it seems like they have a problem converting it to actual boat speed, something not usually seen from St Paul’s School Boat Club. With a crew from King’s College School Boat Club chasing, eager to take trophies off of St Paul’s School Boat Club, will they able to demonstrate a newfound level of speed this weekend?
King’s College School Boat Club
As said before, this crew were able to gas away from the rest of the field at the Schools’ Head of the River, putting some thirty seconds into third place and finishing only 1.1 seconds behind a substantially stronger St Paul’s School Boat Club crew. Last weekend, they took the win by a length over Abingdon School Boat Club, a crew much further down the pecking order at Schools’ Head of the River Race, at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta in Nottingham. Having returned to Cerlac for their Easter training camp, these boys have likely returned in better shape. Wallingford Regatta will be their first opportunity to demonstrate their speed over a 2k course, and I’m sure they’ll be eager to take the fight right to the boys from Barnes.
Radley College Boat Club
The boys in red and white, third at the Schools’ Head of the River, and eager to try and push into those top-level placements and hopefully snatch a medal at the National Schools’ Regatta. I can’t help but think that they might have a repeat of last year’s results, with an early peak at the Schools’ Head of the River, capturing a bronze, before trailing off into regatta season with them just making the A-final at National Schools’ Regatta. Last year, I predicted they would take the bronze at the National Schools’ Regatta before they trailed into a sixth-place finish, but I feel like this year might be different for them. With a promising third place at the Schools’ Head of the River Race, managing to beat crews that bested them only weeks before at Hammersmith Head, I think Radley is in a good position to be in medal contention this weekend.
Latymer Upper School Boat Club
The boys in blue and white seem to have come out of nowhere and positioned themselves in the top-level pack in Junior 16 rowing. With their season looking rather ‘wraps’ after losing 3-0 to the St Paul’s Junior 16 second eight in a Tideway fixture, they clearly built off of it, managing to secure a fourth place finish on their home water at the Schools’ Head of the River. With a rematch supposedly taking place earlier this week against Pauls’ 2nds, it will be interesting to see how they’ve transitioned from the longer head racing to the shorter, more explosive 2km racing. After training camp in Banyoles, these boys should be ready to make a statement that positions themselves high in the pecking order for the rest of the season.
Dulwich College Boat Club
Also attired in blue and located on the Tideway, Dulwich College Boat Club has clearly gone from strength to strength from their C-final victory at the National Schools’ Regatta last year. They came fifth at the Schools’ Head of the River Race, beating out Abingdon by 0.3 of a second, demonstrating their ability to come out ahead in close races. Over Easter, they went to Seville and engaged in some close racing against their second senior eight, which will have prepared them well for side-by-side racing. Honestly, Dulwich are a bit of a wild card this weekend, but they seem to be on the come-up, so it will be interesting to see if they’re able to continue moving up.
Prediction
It seems to be a pretty fierce battle out the front of the pecking order between St Paul’s School Boat Club and King’s College School Boat Club. Initially, at the start of the year, St Paul’s School Boat Club would have been an easy prediction to take the win, but with King’s College School Boat Club’s impressive result at Schools’ Head of the River Race, they could just pip the. I think it will be one of their races, and I won’t even call it because of how close it will probably be. Third place seems to be a battle between Radley College Boat Club and Latymer Upper School Boat Club, with the possibility of Dulwich College Boat Club or Hampton School Boat Club being able to try something to put themselves in a better position to steal a medal.
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