GBRT February Trials 2025 – Women’s U23 Pairs Preview

After yet another turbulent winter, the infamous February trials present an exciting opportunity to test new pairs combinations and, inevitably, showcase their speed over five kilometres. Although pairs may change, performance here will directly influence invitations to subsequent selection events, including the April Trials scheduled for 11-13 April at Caversham. These women will be looking to do whatever they can to benefit their U23 rankings moving forward.

Olivia Hill / Aggie Burt (Oxford Brookes University)

Oxford Brookes consistently arrives in Boston as an intimidating force, and this fully U23 combination of Hill and Burt will no doubt exemplify this dominance. Olivia Hill is no stranger to leading the pack, having recently stroked the GB women’s eight to gold at the 2024 U23 World Rowing Championships. This victory followed a standout April trials last year, where she was in the second-fastest U23 pair and third overall. Aggie Burt demonstrates similar strengths, excelling in an eight – previously winning the U19 World Rowing Championships – and in the pair, placing fifth overall in last year’s April trials. Notably, Aggie was the fastest U21 athlete at the February 2024 trials. Now paired together, this combination promises to be a formidable contender for climbing the ranks.

Rhianna Sumpter (Oxford Brookes University)

Rhianna Sumpter, another Oxford Brookes U23 threat, is expected to be a strong competitor after finishing in the top ten U23s at the most recent November trials in her single. She was also part of the GB eight alongside Olivia Hill that secured gold at the 2024 U23 World Rowing Championships, so will want to follow her closely down the course. The summer win was unsurprising since she was part of the fastest full U23 combination at last year’s February trials with her experienced partner, Grace Richards. This year, in the same crew, they will be aiming to move further up the top five they have become very much accustomed to.

Isadora Kennedy / Daisy Jackson (Durham University)

This Durham crew consists of two U23 athletes coming off a victory in the women’s championship pairs at the 2024 BUCS Regatta. They have established what they can achieve together, giving them confidence against even stronger pair combinations at these GB trials. Isadora Kennedy was particularly successful as an U19, stroking the GB women’s eight to gold at the 2023 U19 World Rowing Championships. Now stepping into the U23 category, she will be eager to make a similar mark as a slighter older competitor. Daisy Jackson, current women’s captain at Durham, will have that extra motivation to represent her university as best she can. It will be interesting to see whether these two can maintain their winning streak.

Anna Grace (Wallingford Rowing Club)

Anna Grace, alongside her older pairs partner Holly Youd, was the second-fastest fully U23 crew at last year’s February trials, so she will be a familiar threat to many of the other women already discussed. This trial’s success came before the additional accolade of winning gold in the GB women’s pair at the 2024 U23 World Championships in Canada. Last month, they also won Tyne United New Year’s Head by a large margin for the second year in a row. With such impressive credentials as an U23, Anna will be eager to maintain this crew’s standard once again. After all, if the fastest pair in the world last year, why not the fastest pair in Great Britain this month?

Jessica Martin (University of London)

Jessica Martin has brought firepower from the Tideway to her pairs at numerous trials, with this time unlikely to be an exception. She was the top U23 performer at last year’s February trials, partnering with Elizabeth Witt to finish second overall. She, therefore, comes to this set of trials as another athlete familiar with the podium, making the competition even tighter. Additionally, she has already ranked among the top 20 in the November trials this season, establishing a place as the fourth-fastest U23 in her single. These consistent high-ranking positions suggest she will once again bring speed to whichever crew she is in, and we will see what she does with Daisy Faithfull this weekend.

Emily Downing (Leander)

Although still relatively young, Emily Downing is by no means inexperienced. She was part of the GB women’s eight at the 2024 U19 World Rowing Championships and will now row alongside Muryn Greene in the pair, aiming to uphold Leander’s high expectations whilst likely looking to follow in her partner’s footsteps as a GB-selected U23 for the women’s eight. Her additional international experience includes winning two silver medals in a coxless four at the Munich International Junior Regatta, so it will be interesting to see how much of an edge this provides and whether she will be within the realms of gold this time.

Prediction

While other entries include Oxford University and the University of Bristol, and the third fully U23 crew being another from the University of London, the podium finishers are likely to come from those already mentioned. It is hard to ignore the fully U23 combination of Hill/Burt, who could be particularly dominant this year, although strong performances are also expected from the pairs featuring Rhianna Sumpter, Anna Grace, and Jessica Martin. It would not be a surprise to see both Oxford Brookes crews in the top three, but I actually think there will be a tight battle between Grace’s and Martin’s crews for the top podium spot.

About The Author

Darcie Summers

Darcie had a successful junior career both nationally and regionally. After winning women’s champ eights with LEH in 2019, she has now returned to the school as part of the coaching team. She has recently started writing for JRN to solidify her involvement with the rowing world.

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