The championship pair is another highly competitive field at BUCS that sees some of the best sweep rowers in the country battle it out for the national university title. Brookes tends to steer clear of this event which leaves things a little more open; last year, Durham took home the gold in a very competitive and fast pairs field.
There aren’t a huge number of pairs entered here this year, but the calibre of athlete is high, and with favourable conditions (unlikely, granted, considering Holme Pierrepont’s usual state) this weekend we could see some fast times.
As ever, I’ll do a bit of a detailed preview of the boats that should be in the running for podium places before offering a general finish order prediction for the top-three spots.
Durham University BC
Durham look to have entered two strong pairs here from their first VIII, the first featuring George Reed, who represented GB at the U23 European Champs last year in the silver-medalling BM8+, and Sam Irving, who was in a fast Eton first VIII in the 2022 season before rowing in the Durham second VIII last year. Reed’s power should be complemented nicely by Irving’s technical eye, and I would expect these guys to put in a good showing. They’ll be facing off against squad-mates Calum Betteley and Charlie Warren. Betteley, Durham’s captain for the past two years, is probably the most experienced guy in the field; perennially sitting in the first VIII, he’s been an integral part of the Palatinate squad since joining in 2021. Warren had a hugely successful junior career at Windsor Boys, winning ‘The Triple’ in the quad in 2022 before joining Durham last season and rowing in the second VIII.
There’ll be healthy rivalry between these two boats, and I think realistically either will have the speed to take the win this weekend.
Newcastle University BC
Durham’s northern rivals, Newcastle have an experienced pair entered here that will certainly have their eye on the gold. George Prior and Ben Brockway have been in this combination a few times before – both at GB U23 Trials, and at BUCS Regatta, where last year they finished sixth in the Ch2-. With another year under their belts, which included a seat in the GB BM8+ at the U23 European Championships for Brockway last summer, this Newcastle pair will expect to have stepped on a lot – and I would imagine that their result will reflect this. With Newcastle looking to step on across the board this summer, expect a strong row from these boys.
Edinburgh University BC
Edinburgh have two strong pairs entered here, either of which could top the field this weekend. The first combination of Josh Matthews and Murray Bone is certainly one to watch. Matthews has some great international experience, rowing in the JM4X at U19 Worlds back in 2022 before rowing in the BM4X at U23 Europeans a year later, finishing fifth. He’s a powerful athlete, sitting right in the engine room of Edinburgh’s strong first VIII, and should be complemented well by Bone. Bone was captain at ASRA last year and led their efforts in securing a fantastic gold medal in the coxed four at the National Schools’ Regatta.
The other combination should also prove to be a formidable unit. Freddy Foxwell and Ollie Holmes are both right at the top of the Edinburgh squad, with Foxwell coming in with a ton of experience from racing with Leander, and the powerful Holmes having represented Scotland at Home Internationals. This pairing fared pretty well at the GBRT February Trials, coming home as the ninth-fastest full U23 combination. Their experience racing together should stand them in good stead here.
Oxford University BC
The Dark Blues are fielding a strong pairing from their Isis boat here: Gabe Reynolds and Jackson Hardin. Reynolds has done very well in his first season at university; fresh from the Bodo Schulenburg-led Hinksey program that produced crews far more than the sum of their parts, Reynolds ended up stroking Isis this year, and has performed startlingly well in GBRT pairs trials throughout the season with U19 partner Herbie Austin-Baker. Reynolds is a very technical rower and clearly a great mover of small boats. He’s joined by Hardin, who is probably the oldest and most experienced rower in this whole field. A postgrad who spent four years at Cornell and formed an integral part of their 1V, Hardin’s racing instinct should marry well with Reynolds’ smooth, dynamic rhythm. I think this could very much be the dark horse of the category.
Imperial College BC
Rounding out the category we have Imperial, who have undeniably been struggling a bit in the past couple of seasons. A disappointing performance at HORR will hopefully have spurred these guys onto greater things, but unfortunately Imperial just don’t have much of a top end, particularly relative to some of their northern counterparts. This pairing of Angus Millar and Dan Kirwan does have decent experience, though, and Kirwan in particular has been on the scene for a while. I just struggle to see these guys really making an impact on this field.
Prediction
This really is a tough one to call. I think this has the potential to be a very close, fast race, with not a lot to separate basically all of these competing pairs. I think I’m going to go with the Reed/Irving combo from Durham in first, followed by Foxwell/Holmes of Edinburgh in second, with Betteley/Warren in third, also from Durham.
Best of luck to all crews.
Five Man
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