Image Credit: Rowing Australia
The open men’s pair is one of the strongest small boat fields at the Australian Rowing Championships, with athletes from the Reynold Batschi Men’s National Training Centre (RBNTC) in Canberra entering, as well as other strong pairs pushing for Australian teams based around the country. This race will be hotly contested and promises to be one of the best on the Thursday of the Australian Rowing Championships 2025. Which athletes will top the pile and win the A-final?
Rohan Lavery & Paddy Holt – MUBC/UTS Haberfield
Paris 2024 Olympians Rohan Lavery and Paddy Holt will be teaming up to race the pair at these national championships after winning the open pair at the Rowing NSW State Championships in February. With these athletes training separately across the season, this competitive combination will be looking to repeat the magic of the NSW State Championships to take the podium’s top step.
Fergus Hamilton & Alexander Hill – Mercantile/Adelaide
Yale Alumni Fergus Hamilton and Olympic gold medallist Alexander Hill are teaming up in the pair for these National Championships. Since January, these athletes have been training at the RBNTC to use their considerable experience and time in the boat together to overpower the field and take the win in preparation for the national team selection trials in April.
Mitch Salisbury & Nick Smith – Kand/MUBC
Kand Rowing Club’s Mitch Salisbury and Melbourne University Boat Club’s Nick Smith are another RBNTC crew racing hard at the National Championships. Both medallists at various U23 World Rowing Championships, this pair will be looking to find some speed and challenge the experience of other crews with their talent and hard work since January at the RBNTC.
Alex Nichol & Fraser Miscamble – Sydney/MUBC
Two of the premier Australian clubs combining at the RBNTC, Alex Nichol and Fraser Miscamble are another young pair looking to make an impact at these National Championships. Training alongside Salisbury, Smith, and other first-year intakes at the NTC, this pair will also be racing hard in preparation for the National Team Selection trials in April and is looking for a strong benchmark in likely challenging conditions.
Charlie Batrouney & Austin Reinehr – MUBC/Mercantile
Another first-year combination from the RBNTC, Charlie Batrouney and Austin Reinehr, will throw old club rivalries aside and team up to race for the top step. Having both raced in the four at different U23 World Rowing Championships, with Reinehr winning silver in 2024, this pair looks to be a fast combination that should trouble the experienced hands that have traditionally been at the front of the field.
Hamish Wynn-Pope & Alex Wolf – MUBC/Sydney
Another MUBC/Sydney combination coming out of the RBNTC is Hamish Wynn-Pope and Alex Wolf, who have each rowed for Australia on multiple occasions and at Henley Royal Regatta in 2023 for their clubs. This combination will be racing especially hard for their position at the national team selection trials in April and will want to test themselves under highly competitive race conditions in front of a crowd.
Nikolas Pender & Myles McQuillan – UTS Haberfield
One of the only non-NTC pairs entered in this event, UTS Haberfield’s Nikolas Pender and Myles McQuillan are both Australian representatives at various U23 World Rowing Championships, with Pender winning silver in the coxless four in both 2023 and 2024. This pair will be looking to show the Senior National Team selectors what they are made of in preparation for National Selection Trials and will be pushing the RBNTC crews the whole way down the course.
Prediction
With an incredibly strong field of experience and young talent, as well as none of the RBNTC crews having raced at the NSW Rowing Championships and whisperings of illness at the RBNTC, this race is challenging to call. I will tentatively predict that Hamilton and Hill will narrowly win out over Lavery and Holt, with the young crews racing for third, ultimately giving the final spot on the podium to Smith and Salisbury by the finest of margins.
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