The senior men’s pairs is shaping up to be a very hot contest. The field is largely dominated by Leander athletes, and the results of recent workouts that might give an indication of who will emerge from the pink palace as the favourite could best be described as inconclusive. On any given day and any given piece, there have been several pairs that have been the fastest, but training is just that: training. On race day, there’s no opportunity to paddle back up to the top and run it again with a few tweaks in order to make an effective bragging-rights argument over breakfast. There is simply A to B, once. Every athlete in the senior field has the experience and the medals to know the reality of the game, and that once the lights go green, the true order will emerge. But who will make up that order?
DeGraaf/Graham, Leander
Douwe DeGraaf is seemingly incapable of losing a World Championship, with two U23 gold medals nestled presumably right alongside his two U19 gold medals. His most recent wins come in the pair in ’21 and the four in ’22. Since then he has earned a GB senior vest and win in the Netz Cup alongside pair partner Dan Graham. The pair took a convincing win at the February Open Trial, and have reunited for April. Graham has been going from strength to strength since aging out of U23’s, earning two senior vests in 2023, including in a development four that ran its way to an extremely close fourth in Lucerne. He has only recently returned from Aviz where he was training alongside the selected GB senior team, and that experience and fitness will serve him well come the weekend.
Heywood/Doran, Oxford Brookes
This Brookes pairing are a surefire threat. Coming off a third place finish in the pair at February, they’ll be looking to disrupt the Leander cohort, and they definitely have the talent and experience to do it. Matt Heywood anchored the two-seat in the Netz Cup-winning eight, adding that medal to his U23 Gold in the eight in 2022. James Doran, having spent another Boat Race campaign at Oxford, returns to the team he won the Ladies Plate with last summer to add the horsepower to Heywood’s skill.
Rowe/Bannister, Leander
Having spent the better part of the fall and winter at Caversham, the former Brookes athletes have recently returned to Leander to continue their development. They earned their initial berth at Caversham through their impressive results in the pair at the December trial, so they have the experience of not only training, but racing together at the highest level. Both have several red boxes, most recently in the Ladies Plate last season, and drove Leander to their first outright win at the Head of the River since 2015.
Beeson/Prior, Leander
Miles Beeson has also made winning World Championships something of a habit, having collected three U23 gold medals across all three sweep classes with the pair being his most recent victory last year. Jack Prior is himself an U23 champion in the eight in 2022, and this pair came a close fifth in February. Since then however, they’ve made significant strides. With a shorter distance and the side-by-side nature of April trials favouring Beeson’s racing experience, I would expect these two to be a sure challenge for the podium, if not the win.
Vogel/Ballinger, Leander
These Henley winners have a drive and desire to make an impact that continually impresses. Tom Ballinger’s undeniable tenacity and engine make him a threat on any race course, and paired with the length and smoothness provided by James Vogel, they’ve shown flashes of true speed over the last few weeks. After missing out on an opportunity in the pair at February trials due to illness, they are hungry for an opportunity to show their pace.
Prediction
This is a really tough one to call. All of these pairs have talent, experience and fitness in spades. My humble hunch is that it’ll be between DeGraaf/Graham and Rowe/Bannister for the win, with the last podium place available to go any which way. There are extremely talented U23 pairs in the field too (more on this to come_ who are not to be ruled out as potential challengers to the podium.
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