While the Olympic hopefuls are away from this round of trials, there is no dearth of talent racing down the course in Boston this weekend. The GB men’s sweep squad has a depth of talent unrivalled by any others in the sport and there is a phenomenal set of athletes who will be looking to put themselves forward for selection for the third World Cup regatta taking place in Poznan in June.
This trial will include much of the talent that has driven the men’s sweep squad to six golds and a silver across the last two world U23 rowing championships as well as the development crew who got the better of top-class American and German line-ups in the Netz Cup this summer.
Dan Graham and Douwe de Graaf (Leander Club)
The fastest non-Caversham pair at the November trials, Dan Graham and Douwe de Graaf lead the charge of Leander pink crews that are likely to headline this event. Graham has been in and around the GB setup for most of last season, sitting in the bow of the GBR2 crew that finished fourth in a world class field at the Lucerne World Cup in 2023. De Graaf has a storied history in a GB vest with two golden junior world championship campaigns back when he was at St Paul’s before heading across the Atlantic to Harvard University, where he became a mainstay of their first eight, earning All-American honours while adding two under-23 world championship golds when he was back for the summer.
Both now embedded in the Pink Palace in Henley, they have been making strides together in the pair so far this season and will be looking to make a mark looking both to Poznan as well as to Los Angeles on the horizon.
Miles Beeson and Jack Prior (Leander Club)
Having spent all of last season as the stern pair of the Yale University Varsity Eight, Miles Beeson and Harry Geffen are separated for this round of trials (Geffen is not racing). Beeson instead pairs up with Jack Prior, a former Brookes athlete and U23 world and European champion. Beeson, an Aberdonian, has three world U23 golds to go along with his silver from his junior years. The most recent of these golds came when Beeson paired up with Geffen in Plovdiv, Bulgaria as they raced to victory in the pair together, topping off a season that included an Eastern Sprints Championships and a semi-final appearance at Henley Royal Regatta in the Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup.
James Vogel and Tom Ballinger (Leander Club & Plymouth Rowing Club)
The third Leander Club pair to keep your eye out for comes from James Vogel and Tom Ballinger. Vogel is a product of the discontinued Twickenham GB Start Centre, where he progressed to row at Durham University before joining Leander Club upon his graduation, rowing in the 2022 Ladies Plate winning crew. Ballinger learned to row at Claires Court School and is a four-times British champion. He also featured with Vogel in that legendary ’22 Ladies Plate eight.
James Doran (Oxford University) and Matthew Heywood (Oxford Brookes University)
The most notable crew coming from outside of Leander comes from a composite crew of the two Oxford Universities. James Doran of Oxford University joined with Matthew Heywood of Oxford Brookes at the last round of trials, setting a competitive time. Doran is no stranger to combining with the men in maroon having represented Brookes in their successful Ladies’ Plate campaign at Henley Royal Regatta this summer along with his partner.
Matt Heywood, no stranger to success at Henley, was part of the 2022 Temple Challenge Cup victory as well as the Ladies’ Plate in 2023 has represented GB before, being victorious at GB-France and Coupe de la Jeunesse as a junior before making the step up to World Rowing level eventually as part of the 2022 U23 World Champion Eight and making his Senior debut last summer in the Netz Cup crew.
The hopes of Wallingford will be on this pairing as the best option of keeping the spoils away from Henley-on-Thames as these individuals will look to make a splash and earn Senior World-level vests for GB in Poland this summer.
Saxon Stacey (Oxford University) and Elliott Kemp (Oxford University)
A combination straight from the beating heart of the provisional Oxford blue boat, this pairing are one to watch. Kemp rowed in the Cal 2V last year, winning the Kennedy Challenge Cup at the IRA National Championships alongside titles at the Pac-12 Championships, San Diego Crew Classic and Washington duel. Stacey was in the reserve men’s boat (Isis) in 2023 but is a product of the fiercely-competitive Eton college rowing program. He is a junior world champion and well-seasoned athlete.
Prediction
With the depth of talent training side-by-side each day at Leander it is hard to imagine they won’t have stepped on from their November performance. My pick would be for Graham and de Graaf to be the ones to take the spoils in Boston.
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