Walton Small Boats Head will be the last race of 2025 for almost all of the athletes involved, and with 578 singles, doubles, and pairs entered, it promises to be a hugely exciting day for all involved, giving everyone the chance to show off their skills in a small boat. Athletes from clubs all around the country are making the journey to Walton for the three-kilometre race along the course consisting of a few straight sections, alongside two tight turns, all on a river that is only 20 metres wide at its narrowest. It will be a challenging race for all, but there are some spectacular crews that I believe have the potential to perform superbly.
Junior Men’s Sculling
The junior men’s sculling on offer looks to be exciting, with athletes racing all the way from the Junior 14 single up to the Junior 18 double, but the Junior 17 and 18 singles, alongside the Junior 18 double, promise to field the most competitive races. In the Junior 17 single, the two standout athletes are Elsmore-Wickens of Wallingford Rowing Club, and Rendell of Bewl Bridge Rowing Club. Elsmore-Wickens placed second in the Band 2 Junior 18 Single at Henley Long Distance Sculls, whereas Rendell raced in the Junior 18 double at the same event, but also made it to the A-final at the Junior Sculling Regatta in the Junior 16 single in May, a great result at a highly prestigious event.
In the Junior 18 single, Tyrrell-Clark of Bewl Bridge Rowing Club looks like a strong contender following his fourth place finish in the Band 1 Junior 18 single at Henley Long Distance Sculls, but the best sculler in the field looks to be Wilde of Tiffin School, who placed thirteenth at Boston Head, the largest of the U19 trial sculling events. Finally, in the Junior 18 double, Tiffin School look in a solid position to win the event with three doubles entered, finishing in first, fourth, and eighth in the same event at Henley Long Distance Sculls a month ago, but, again, Bewl Bridge look to have some similarly speedy doubles, with Rendell doubling up in this category.
Junior Men’s Sweep
The most notable junior men’s sweep race is the Junior 18 pair; with 21 boats entered, of which eight are from King’s College School, Wimbledon and seven are from Bedford School. Both of these schools have had some excellent results this season. KCS Wimbledon placed second and third at Teddington Head in November, in two relatively mixed crews, showing that they have some strong squad depth and that even in mixed boats, they can still perform at high standards. Standout athletes include Strecker and Hoo, who represented Great Britain at the Coupe de la Jeunesse over the summer (Hoo at only 16 years old, an extraordinary feat). It is not clear which athletes are in which pairs, however if they are ranked pairs then we can certainly expect the top few pairs to be excellent. Their main competition is Bedford School. Bedford had a standout season last year, making it to the A-Final at National Schools’ Regatta and subsequently the quarter-final at Henley Royal Regatta, both in the Junior 18 Eight, and more recently a fifth place finish at Wallingford Head. It seems clear that both of these two schools will produce some really strong pairs, as long as their proficiency in the eight can transfer to the smaller boats.
In the Junior 17 Pair, Wallingford Rowing Club have two pairs entered: both named “Elsmore-Wickens”. Wallingford Rowing Club represented Great Britain in June at the GB-France match, with Liddy and Elsmore-Wickens winning over their French counterparts. It is therefore clear that these pairs will also be exceptionally strong, especially if the two athletes above are together again.
Junior Women’s Sculling
The Junior 18 Women’s single could either be a dominant win, or a proper struggle; McDougall, of Barn Elms Rowing Club has had a storied year full of ups and downs: she won the time trial in the Junior 18 single at the National Schools’ Regatta, yet was unable to finish the final. She placed 2nd in the time trial in the Junior Single at Henley Women’s Regatta, yet was unable to finish the quarter final due to back issues. She won this same category at Sculler’s Head in September, the largest and most prestigious single scull race of the year, yet most recently placed 11th at Hampton Small Boats Head. When she’s firing on all cylinders, she is one of the fastest and most capable junior scullers in the country, and I’m sure she hopes to perform in such a way over the weekend. Her main competition appears in the form of Mead and Bell from Wallingford Rowing Club – Mead represented Great Britain in the Coupe de la Jeunesse over the summer, while Bell recently won this same category at Henley Long Distance Sculls and at Boston Head, as part of the Great Britain Under-19 Trials process.
In the Junior 18 double, Sir William Perkins’s School are out in force: out of the 17 crews entered, eight are from Sir William Perkins’s School. This club has been near the top of junior women’s sculling for years, with consistent A-Finals at the National School’s Regatta. Across the eight doubles, it is hard to predict one in particular to win, but Al Qahef’s double looks particularly favourable as she was part of the first quad at the program last year.
Junior Women’s Sweep
Wallingford Rowing Club has strong pairs across all three age groups; in the Junior 18 pair, Bell is once again racing alongside another likely similarly skilled and accomplished Wallingford athlete. Clayton’s pair is also likely to be a contender to win as they have exhibited high sweeping capabilities in the A-Final at National School’s Regatta, placing sixth. Both athletes, alongside Lucy Mead and Florence Schilizzi also raced at the Junior Fours’ Head in the coxed four, placing second in this category, showing that Wallingford has some exceptionally talented rowers. Their main competition will again be Sir William Perkins’s School. These two clubs are actually closely intertwined, having recently raced a composite eight at Wallingford Head, and qualifying a composite eight to the GB-France J16 match earlier this year, and it is likely that many of the athletes who are racing each other this weekend, in fact raced together last weekend. I don’t doubt that these two clubs will be eager to compete with each other, given their camaraderie and past cohesion, however I think that the Wallingford pairs are more likely to take the win due to their higher achievements in sweep rowing and their extremely capable individual athletes.
Both the Junior 16 and the Junior 17 pair only have four entries, with Wallingford having two entries in each; the Junior 16 pairs consist of athletes who placed second in the Junior 15 eight at the National Schools’ Regatta earlier this year, and one of the Junior 17 pairs has Dowman, who was in the aforementioned GB-France eight.
Masters
The masters racing calendar often takes a slightly different shape due to changing categories and handicaps compared to the more consistent junior and senior circuit. That said, a few athletes racing on Saturday had standout performances at Henley Long Distance Sculls in November: Harden of Bradford-upon-Avon Rowing Club won the Masters F Double, and Booker of Wallingford Rowing Club won the Women’s Masters D Single. It’s clear that these two scullers in particular are in top form, and will be looking to top their categories on Saturday.
