Holders: Oxford Brookes University and Leander Club
Entries: 2
A straight final between the national crews from Great Britain (racing as Oxford Brookes University and Leander Club) and Canada (racing as Maple Bay Rowing Club). Canada last won the Grand back in 2008 and they will have their work cut out for them to take the title this year. The Brookes/Leander crew are the reigning World and European champions and the crew for Henley contains seven of the boat that won last year. At the time of writing (Friday 16th) this crew became the fastest ever GB M8 when they recorded a time of 5:21.25 in the preliminary race at the Varese World Cup. Who knows, if the conditions are right, they may get close to the World’s Best Time, and I’d be surprised if they didn’t fancy a crack at the Henley record of 5:53 (set by the Australians in 2018). There may be a slight tweak to the line-up that races at Henley versus the one competing in Varese, with world champion Charlie Elwes listed in place of Will Stewart.
But, the Canadians will be no pushovers, They have a very experienced crew with six of the crew that finished fifth at the World Championships last year, Curtis Ames, Jakub Buczek, Joshua King, William Crothers, Luke Gadsdon and coxswain Laura Court. They are joined by U23 World Champion Liam Keane and Tokyo Olympian Gavin Stone. The final member of the crew is Cody Bailey who raced at the second and third World Cups last season and was in the M8 that finished eighth at the 2019 World Championships.
Predictions
On home water, in front of a home crowd it’s difficult to see Maple Bay overcoming the World Champions…..Oxford Brookes and Leander to defend their title.
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