Back for a second year at the Birmingham NEC, BRIC seems to be returning to its pre-COVID glory. The women’s category is stacked with Olympic medallists, rising stars of the GB rowing team for the next Olympiad, and talented and experienced domestic club athletes.
GB Rowing Team
Of the 32 entries in the senior category, 12 come from the GB Rowing Team. These include athletes from the Paris squad: Lauren Henry and Georgie Brayshaw, Olympic champions in the quad, and Lauren Irwin, bronze medallist in the eight. Given their successful summer, these famous names will certainly be fighting for a win here. However, the other GB team athletes who entered, mostly part of the Project LA group, will be hot on their heels.
Jenny Bates and Freya Keto had plenty of stellar results racing in their double over the summer, winning the Henley Women’s Regatta championship double and finishing as finalists in The Stonor Challenge Trophy at Henley Royal Regatta. They also made their GB senior debuts at the Holland Beker regatta, reaching the A-final. They placed second and third place at the November GB trials (behind Lauren Henry) and are both exceptionally strong athletes. I expect them both to be challenging the Olympians here.
There are also a couple of athletes with some U23 success who I would expect to make an impact here. Vwaire Obukohwo, part of the former GB Start programme at Twickenham Rowing Club, has multiple U23 medals in the women’s double. The start programme has famously produced athletes who are exceptionally strong on the ergo, and I suspect Vwaire may be on the podium this weekend. Amelia Standing was a part of the gold medal-winning coxless four at the U23 World Rowing Championships in 2021 and has produced consistently strong results at GB trials and Henley Royal Regatta since then (often with pairs partner Juliette Perry, also competing this weekend).
Whilst the podium places will almost certainly be shared between the GB Rowing Team, many club-level athletes are more than capable of putting down an excellent time and chasing PBs in the atmosphere this weekend’s competition will bring.
City of Oxford Rowing Club has several entries on the start list. Pippa Biggs is one I would expect to see reasonably high up in the results; she made the quarterfinals of the aspirational single at Henley Women’s Regatta this summer, racing for Martlet Boat Club. Jessica Shepherd of Reading Rowing Club also raced in this exceptionally competitive category, narrowly missing out on progressing through the time trial. The psychological strength needed to race a single scull will lend itself to the competition on the ergo, and I expect these ladies will both rise to the challenge. Hannah Stocks (Army Indoor Rowing Team) appears to be the sole returner from BRIC last year; this experience should help her to hold her nerve and improve on her result.
Prediction
Given the stellar results in Paris, I expect at least one of the three Olympic medalists competing to feature on the podium here this weekend. However, many of the other GB Rowing Team athletes, especially Vwaire Obukohwo, Freya Keto, and Jenny Bates, have the potential to stop the podium from solely consisting of Olympic medalists.
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