The women’s sweep field this year is heavily saturated with under-23 talent, but the two lone senior pairs are sure to feature at or near the top of the heap come finals on Sunday afternoon.
Perry/Standing, Leander
The winners of the February open trial by 12 long seconds, Perry and Standing are the clear favourites for the win this weekend. Both are highly experienced and skilled. Standing is a former U23 World Champion, and they’ve spent the better part of a year rowing together. They formed the bow pair of a senior development four that won last year’s Duisberg International Regatta, before going on to make the final of the Town Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, losing only to eventual World Championship bronze medalists, the selected GB Women’s Four. They also doubled up in the pair at Henley without the relief of a bye, progressing through the heats and quarter finals before losing a nail biting semi-final to the eventual winners. This represented their fifth race in three days, a massively impressive performance indicative of their superior fitness and tenacity. Perry then travelled to Belgrade as the reserve athlete for a senior women’s team that qualified all three sweep classes for this year’s Olympic Games.
Their experience rowing and racing together in the pair spans this season and last, and makes them formidable competition.
Snowden/Hawes, Leander
Phoebe Snowden has a plethora of accolades, including an appearance in the final of the pair at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2023, a silver medal as the anchor of the U23 women’s eight at the World Championships in 2022, and most recently a win at WeHORR in the engine room of Leander A. She’s looking to stamp her authority as a shoe-in for the next generation of Caversham athletes post-Paris, alongside old friend Isy Hawes, who is making a triumphant return to the racing circuit after illness kept her sidelined for almost a year. Hawes is a Henley champion in the Island Challenge Cup and has past GB representation at U23 Europeans in the four alongside Snowden.
Prediction
Perry and Standing are my pick for the likely overall winners. Snowden and Hawes will be challenging for the podium.
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