Lock, place, press, surge. A combination of the pinnacle technical finesse matched with maximal power is what leads to any successful crew but even more so for a double. The sole trust placed between the athlete and their teammate to get from A to B as fast as possible breeds a competitive energy that fosters wanting to deliver a strong performance and simultaneously do the other girl in the crew with you proud. With races in small boats being able to be turned over in a matter of a few hundred metres, the Women’s Championship Double is sure to be an exciting one to watch unfold. Whilst the larger crew boats were able to race earlier in the year, the double only gets its time in the light for BUCS Regatta, making it not only an exciting boat class, but also an illusive one.
Reading University Boat Club
Leading the way in British university sculling with their comparatively unique programme which specialises in the discipline, Reading is guaranteed to be fielding a strong combination into their championship double. After attaining a bronze at the regatta last year, I’m sure the crew will be aiming to lay down a dominant performance from the get-go and establish themselves further up the podium position.
Cambridge University Boat Club
Fresh off a Boat Race win, this all-North American pairing sees Canadian National Team athlete Claire Brillon join with ex-Brown rower Freya Keto. Despite having spent most, if not all of their season so far in sweep crews, this pairing brings a wealth of experience and raw power. Cambridge might be less recognisable in this class on the start line, but it’s possible their competitors won’t get much of a look before they roar off beyond their adversaries’ bow balls.
Edinburgh University
Being last year’s winners in this event, it would be a foolish move to overlook any crew that Edinburgh puts out this weekend. After their championship quad took the win by over 15s back in February at BUCS Head, there is no doubt that the university is able to foster highly proficient scullers. If what I would assume to be correct in members of this winning crew being placed into this double then Edinburgh could easily be topping the medal table for another year in a row further establishing themselves at the top of championship university woman’s sculling.
Durham University Boat Club
Much like the aforementioned crew, Durham will be looking to mimic or improve on their performance from their silver medaling Championship Quad back in February on race day. Durham’s sculling programme in reputation with Izzy Sellers making it to April trials as the fastest lightweight is clearly on its way up and is beginning to reap the reward of their athlete’s hard work. It will be exciting to see how they fair up against the more established programme of Reading on race day as they end up head to head down the track.
Predictions
With the unpredictability of a doubles race alongside the ability of the result to change over a matter of strokes, predicting a result is a challenging task. However taking a statistical approach to this, Edinburgh has the data and results to back them driving back over the border with a gold medal around their necks, though the relative unknown of a formidable Cambridge pairing might just throw a spanner in the works there. As for the lower medals, it will be a hard-fought battle for the podium places with I predict Reading managing to only marginally pip Durham to the post to be closely followed by Newcastle.
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