The weather is getting colder, the days are getting shorter, and athletes across the country are getting ready to make the customary pilgrimage to Boston, Lincolnshire, to compete in the initial round of GB Rowing Team trials. Boston’s long, relatively bend-free river has been a long-time host to aspiring national team oarsmen, who compete in either singles or pairs in a gruelling 5K time trial. The stakes go beyond just GB representation, here; rival clubs will be analysing the relative performances of their top athletes, eager to put their best foot forward as the season begins in earnest.
Unfortunately, we don’t have access to the actual boats entered here (i.e. who is sweeping or sculling, and what the pairs combinations are), but we can say with a reasonable degree of certainty who the leading players will be at this round of trials – all of whom will be aiming for selection for the U23 team this summer. With that in mind, for this preview, I will preview who I believe to be the names to watch here from both the sculling and sweeping side.
Luke Beever – Cambridge University BC
Former King’s School Worcester sculler Beever has done two seasons at Cambridge, both of which saw him in winning Goldie crews – at seven in 2023, and then at stroke in 2024. He performed well at various rounds of GB trials last year but narrowly missed out on a seat in the pair at the U23 World Rowing Championships. He seems to have come back with a vengeance this year. He made the top Cambridge eight at both the Head of the Shanghai River Regatta and, most impressively, at the Head of the Charles, contributing to Cambridge’s capturing of the Championship Eight trophy for the first time in 20 years. In a year where both Boat Race squads are stacked with international postgraduate talent, this is no mean feat, and whether or not Beever earns a Blue this year, he will no doubt be firmly in the running for a place on the U23 team. Cambridge has a pretty good track record at the long-distance GB U23 trials over the past couple of years, and I imagine Beever will come away as one of the top-performing U23s this weekend.
Charlie Chick – Oxford Brookes University BC
A former member of Warwick and Stratford rowing clubs, Chick is embarking on another season with the impervious Oxford Brookes University after a resounding win last year in The Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. With several of the guys at Brookes having moved up to train at Caversham as the national team begins to reform, Chick’s Henley-winning experience will be vital as Brookes builds and develops its next generation of athletes.
Matt Long – Reading University BC/Kingston RC
Long is a current Reading University sculler who made waves last year with an incredible win at GB April Trials, beating out senior international Aidan Thompson. Long ended up partnering with second-fastest U23 Stephen Hughes to form GB’s BM2X, which ultimately finished fourth at the U23 World Rowing Championships. The pair will have been disappointed with that result, and Long will be determined to continue to build and develop towards next year’s Championships. He’s an incredibly gifted sculler with a ton of power, with a style favouring the punchier 2Ks over the long slog of the Boston 5K. That said, he’ll undoubtedly aim for a punchy finish here.
Josh Matthews – Edinburgh University BC
Edinburgh powerhouse Matthews is another sculler with good international pedigree. He’s fresh off representing GB at U23 World Rowing Championships last year in the quad, adding to a growing collection of international vests (he rowed at the U19 World Rowing Championships in 2022, and U23 European Rowing Championships in 2023). He’s a talented sculler, finishing sixth in the A-final of April Trials last year and coming home as the third-fastest U23. I expect a tight battle between Matthews and Long at the top of the sculling pack.
Harry Ruinet – Marlow RC
A Claires Court alum, Ruinet enters as another sculler that has already represented GB at the U23 level – in the quad last year alongside Josh Matthews. That wasn’t his first international vest; Ruinet rowed twice at the U19 World Rowing Championships, first in 2022 in the JM4X alongside Matthews and Matt Long, and then again in the JM4X in 2023. Making the U23 quad was a fantastic result for Ruinet, though he and his crewmates will have been disappointed with a sixth-placed finish in a tight field. He’ll be looking to step on this year, and this initial round of GB selection will provide an excellent opportunity for Ruinet to establish himself at the front end of the field.
Kai Schlottmann – Oxford Brookes University BC
Another Brookes athlete, Schlottmann enters here as one of the program’s best bowsiders. He was in the JM4- at the U19 World Rowing Championships in 2023 that finished fourth before heading to Brookes, where he ended up in the winning Prince Albert Challenge Cup four alongside Charlie Chick. Schlottmann didn’t manage to nab a spot on the GB U23 team last summer but did end up representing Wales at the Home Countries International Rowing Regatta in the pair with Leander athlete Osian James, taking home gold. With another year of Brookes experience under his belt, I’m pretty confident that Schlottmann will end up on the team next summer, and his pair this weekend will be one to watch.
Saxon Stacey – Oxford University BC
An Oxford Blue, Stacey enters here as one of the higher-profile athletes in the field. An old Etonian, Stacey was part of the winning JM4- for GB at the U19 World Rowing Championships in 2022. He then embarked on his Oxford journey, making the Isis Boat in 2023, and the Blue Boat a year later. On both occasions, Oxford were defeated by their rivals in Light Blue. Despite a coaching change this year – Stacey’s old Eton coach, Mark Fangen-Hall, in for Boat Race mainstay Sean Bowden – Oxford have already suffered a loss to Cambridge: the Dark Blues finished a good 12 seconds behind the top Cambridge boat at the Head of the Charles. It’s not an insurmountable margin, but it certainly suggests that Oxford have plenty of work to do. Stacey will undoubtedly be a leader on the squad this year, given his experience, and will be fighting hard to come out ahead of the Cambridge entries at this round of GB Trials – not just for himself but for the rest of the Oxford team, too. Expect a high finish position for Stacey’s pair.
Charlie Warren – Durham University BC/Windsorian BC
Despite not earning an U23 vest last year, Durham Men’s Captain Warren will come into this season as a potential favourite for a seat on the team. A former Windsorian with a win in The Fawley Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta to his name, Warren performed well in sculling trials last year, finishing third among the U23s at the February long-distance trial and 12th at April Trials. Taking the mantle of Captain at Durham, which has experienced a significant resurgence over the past few years, will be a massive motivator for Warren, and I expect him to be in the mix with the top scullers here.
GB Trials is always enthralling. With top athletes from programs nationwide battling for international representation, competition is always fierce, and margins are razor thin. There aren’t many returners from last year here – particularly on the sweep side – but the influx of fresh talent is exciting, and it will be fascinating to see who throws down the gauntlet at this early stage of the season.
Good luck to all crews.
Five Man
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