As is always the case with the championship categories, the field is very small. This year in the championship pairs, there are only 7 entries, 40% of which come from Cambridge. It has to be noted that there is a gap in the field that is usually filled by Oxford, but it seems they are keeping their top athletes away from BUCs this year across all events.
Cambridge
With three entries in this field it seems apt to kick this off with the Cambridge crews. One of the crews has Caoimhe Dempsey, whose name might be familiar to anyone who watched the Blue Boats this year, as she sat in the two seat of the victorious light blue crew. She has also represented Ireland at the European U23 World Championships and the Home International Regatta, and now with two wins as a Blue her CV looks pretty formidable. Her teammate, Sarah Portsmouth, also has two wins in the Blue Boat and she sat in the six seat this year. A very successful junior rower, having represented GB at the Coupe de la Jeunesse and with the title of the youngest rower in the Cambridge top crew, she is also clearly incredibly talented. The third of the Cambridge pairs is unnamed, but perhaps the presumption can be made that it will also be filled with the blue boat. We can again make a guess that the other unnamed members of the Dempsey and Portsmouth pairs are also straight out of that boat. Either way, they will be the ones to beat going into this race.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh have had a very good season so far, with the whole club coming fourth in the overall Victor Ludorum at BUCS head , and the women coming third in the women’s VL – it’s safe to say they have rightly secured their spot as one of the country’s top programmes. Isabel Jonsson is a testament to this; she was part of the Championship quad that got gold at BUCS head in February and this shows the depth of the baby blue army. She is also registered as competing in three different sweep championship events. It is likely therefore that her pairs partner will also be a part of a lot of these crews, making them a very strong duo.
Durham
Durham fielded a championship pair at this regatta last year, and came fifth against a very stacked draw. They also come into this as a club with a successful year under their belt as second-placed finishers in the overall VL at BUCS; more relevant perhaps is that they won the women’s VL. Their women’s squad this year is full of impressive talent, with trialists and plenty of gold medals from BUCS head and this pair will not be an exception. The women’s intermediate eight was victorious at the head and their championship eight came third which illustrates their sweeping prowess. The named rower, Evelyna Davies, is also racing in the championship four and the championship single.
Imperial
Another university with an impressive sweeping reputation and they have had some solid results this season. Their women’s championship eight came in fourth, notably behind crews from the aforementioned Durham and Edinburgh which is a good sign coming into this race. Similarly, they had a successful coxed four that won the academic pennanent at fours head earlier in the season, if those results prove anything its that Imperial has the potential to put down a very strong performance. It remains to be seen if they have pushed themselves on to be able to translate that into a gold medal in this category.
Nottingham
Last but certainly not least, is the pair from Nottingham. On their home turf, they will have a slight advantage of lots of experience on this 2000m course, which is not to be overlooked as an advantage as being able to race over 2k in a pair is a difficult skill to master. Georgie Thorp was a part of the gold medal winning championship four at BUCs Head so they have a good track record in these events. Perhaps as the underdog coming into this race, this team is clearly having a strong year in sweep events so will be ones to watch in this category and if they can put the magic they had in the four into this pair then they could be very dangerous.
Predictions:
With a very small, and very talented field of rowers it is hard to predict who will prevail on the day. On paper it seems difficult to imagine that it won’t be a Cambridge boat that will take the win – but the question is will it be an entirely light blue podium, I would be prepared to stick my neck out and say no. Both Nottingham and Imperial have had strong results in their fours, so could be strong as they split into the smaller boats for this. Similarly, Edinburgh and Durham are consistently winning these sweep events and have a strong season behind them. No doubt this category will provide some very interesting racing.
BUCS Images credit: Drew Smith
Drew Smith Photography
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