Holders: J.C.D. Cleary & C.W. Antill, Australia
Entries: 11
The draw should present the Sunday crowds with a Great Britain v Spain final. The home crowd favourites will be Aidan Thompson and John Collins (racing as Twickenham Rowing Club & Leander Club). They are a new combination and opened their account at the Varese World Cup last weekend finishing with a good win in the B-Final. Thompson was the spare for the European Championships and Varese was his first race for the senior GB team. Collins on the other hand is one of the most experienced men in the team. He’s been racing on the senior team since 2012 and was fifth in the double in Rio and fourth in Tokyo. He’s won this event three times, the first with Alan Sinclair in 2012 and the second with Jonny Walton in 2015 and the third with Graeme Thomas in 2019. He and Walton were also losing finalists in 2015.
Whilst Thompson and Collins will be the crowd’s favourites, the most likely favourites to lift the title are Aleix Garcia Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero, racing as Club NataciÛ Banyoles and Club Remo do MiÒo, Spain. They won Spain’s first ever M2X World Championship medal last season when they finished runners-up to the Croatians. They also won silver at the 2022 European Championships and were fifth at the Euros this season. A Spanish crew has never won an Open event at Henley (or even made the final) but this pair stand a very good chance of rectifying that.
These are the only two senior international doubles competing, but outside of these two there should be some great competition to reach the semi-finals (or cause a major upset). One of the strongest of these entries is Cedol Dafydd and James Gare (University of Bath). They are part of the Great Britain Development squad and have been selected to race for Great Britain at the Holland Beker next week. They won at the Wedau Regatta in Duisburg (ahead of two other British doubles) and also took gold at the Metropolitan and Marlow regattas.
Leander Club is represented by Bryn Ellery and Victor Kleshnev. Ellery raced at Duisburg with Rowan Law, finishing second to Dafydd/Gare. Both Ellery and Kleshnev were members of the GB U23 BM4X that finished seventh last season and also won the Prince of Wales. Kleshnev is currently studying at Harvard and also made his senior international debut at the third World Cup of 2021, winning a bronze medal in the M2x with Rory Harris.
The final pre-qualified crew is David Van Velden and Hidde Lycklama of Princeton University. Whilst they are racing as Princeton, they are both members of the Netherlands U23 team. They raced together at the 2022 U23 World Championships making the A-Final in the BLM2X. Van Velden raced at the 2022 European Championships winning the C-Final in the LM2X with David Kampman. They both rowed in the Princeton Lightweight Varsity crew that won the IRA’s and Eastern Sprints this season.
The rest of the entries will need to race the Qualifiers and there will be six crews vying for three places. There is one international entry that the Stewards are requiring to qualify, Yuyang Wang and Rongcheng Zhang of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. They may feel a little aggrieved in being required to qualify as they are the current Chinese National Champions.
Another combination who will expect to get one of the three available spots are Cory Wilkinson and Ben Newton of Leeds Rowing Club and the University of York. They are both members of the GB Development Pathway scheme and finished in a strong eighth place at the Metropolitan Regatta.
14th at the Metropolitan Regatta were Jack Davidson and Ross Duffy of Globe Rowing Club. Their best result of the season was third at Wallingford. Sudbury Rowing club’s Byron Bullen and Harry Moule also raced at the Met, placing 19th and their best result of the season was also a third place, this time at Nottingham City. The crew from Elizabethan Boat Club (the Westminster School old boys) is Pierre Thomas and Finn Bannister. Thomas won the Falwey with Westminster School back in 2009 and Bannister rowed for Imperial College with whom he made the final of the European Universities Championships. The final crew in the event are a pair of juniors from the Lea Rowing Club, Elliot Marsden and Peter Fannin. They raced at the National Schools earlier this season, finishing second in the B-Final of Champ 2X.
Predictions
The draw should lead to Thompson/Collins v Pujolar/Conde Romero. Whilst the Spanish have the better international record, the British are improving every time they race, and Collins’ Henley experience may just see them sneak the win. It should be a great race.
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