The men’s double is always an interesting competition. It’s a mix of individual talent, combined with crew synchronicity. Most of these crews won’t have been together for long, part and parcel of spending much of the season in bigger boats. Nonetheless, it’s a good opportunity for a BUCS medal, and some competitive racing.
Reading University Boat Club
Consistently the top UK sculling programme, Reading University have entered two doubles. The current top quad is Louis Powell, Sol Hewitt, Jacob Parrington and Josh Lyon, and it looks like this has been split in half to create two doubles. In 2021, Reading won the Mens Championship Doubles at BUCS Regatta, so they’ll be looking to reclaim the title from Queen’s Belfast, who won last year.
Durham University Boat Club
Durham currently have a good group of scullers who have performed well at GB Trials. This double is stroked by George Reed, the former Hartpury rower, now in his second season at Durham. Their quad also came third behind Reading and Bath at BUCS Head this year, so they have some good squad depth; they will be aiming to medal here.
Edinburgh University Boat Club
Stroked by World Junior Championship A-finalist Josh Matthews, the Edinburgh double is off to a promising start. Matthews will likely be joined by any one of the strong group of scullers currently up in Scotland, creating an impressive crew that’s likely to be fast. Edinburgh finished 4th at this event in 2022, and 6th in 2021, so have good pedigree to match their ambition.
Bath University Boat Club
Bath have entered a double, comprising Cedol Dafydd and Jamie Gare. These two athletes have come a long way under their coach Dan Harris, with Gare representing GB in the men’s double at the 2022 U23 World Championships. They’re also experienced as a unit, placing 8th at Pairs Head this season; they’ll no doubt be looking to break into the medal positions.
Queen’s University Belfast Boat Club
Queen’s Belfast have also entered a double. It’s stroked by Nathan Timoney, the Irish international rower. Last year, he came home with a bronze medal from the U23 World Championships in the men’s four. He also made his senior debut at the World Championships, finishing 8th in a tough men’s four field. As such, and crew he’s in is certainly one to watch.
Predictions
This is a hard one to call, with all competitors being of such a high calibre. However, having a senior international oarsman in your crew is pretty hard to beat at BUCS, so I’ll have to give the nod to the Queen’s Belfast double. As to second and third, I expect it to be nail-bitingly close between Bath and the two Reading doubles.
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