This event at National Schools was one of the most popular of the whole regatta, so it's not too much of a surprise to see that this category has a strong entry of over thirty, including three US crews.
We're in for a cracker, as Nottinghamshire County RA and St. George's College are back, the silver and bronze medallists from National Schools respectively. A tiny 0.65s margin separated them back at Dorney, and these two crews will undoubtedly be fighting for those top spots. Maidenhead were not far behind and right up there with George's to the 1500m, so are another crew to keep an eye on.
Emily Keen of Sir William Perkins's school has proven herself a strong sculler after representing GB at Munich. She was 6th in the NSR A final with a different doubles partner, and we've seen SWPS results improve a lot over the season (their quad jumped from 26th to 4th from The Scullery Head to Regatta). We'd expect these girls to be quick.
Two of Headington's top eight are hopping into the double, and with past success in sculling, could be a strong entry. Henley's double don't hail from one of their eights, but were 34th in the TT for this event at NSR. Cheltenham Ladies' aren't as recognisable name in the junior rowing world as clubs like HSO and Henley, but they were 5th at NSR and an excellent 4th in the TT ahead of the likes of Notts County, so are certainly an underdog to look out for. Hinksey also raced at NSR, finishing in the middle of the B final.
King's Ely, Molesey, Reading, Fulham Reach Queen Anne's School, RGS, Worcester, Worcester RC, Thames, ASL, Monkton Combe all form a large cluster of crews that raced at TT but missed out on qualifying for the A/ B finals. It was fairly close between a large number of crews in this category so it looks all to play for between these guys.
It looks like there's a strong set of overseas crews contesting at HWR this year, even in the junior events. Kent School's double had some tough races over the weekend at Reading Amateur, facing some much older crews on the Saturday before being beaten by Wycliffe on Sunday. The other two American crews are Miami International RH and South Jersey. We've seen overseas crews come as a surprise time and time again so it's exciting to see where these guys will fit in.
AllMarkHub Team