Holders: M.D.MacDonald and T.H.Mackintosh, New Zealand
Entries: 18
This is not so much a question of who will win, as who will get to the final to face the current Great Britain senior pair of Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Tom George (racing as Leander Club). They were both members of the GB M8 that won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, and since moving to the pair have shown flashes of brilliance. They were the losing finalists last season and went on to win bronze at the World Championships. This season they had a fantastic race at the European’s just being pipped by the Swiss by 1/10th second. Last weekend at the Varese World Cup they got their revenge, producing a dominant performance to take the gold by three seconds. Their time of 6:13.15 makes them the fastest-ever GB M2- (beating the time of 6:13.75 set by James Foad and Matt Langridge at the 2014 World Championships).
The final could end up being a contest between the senior GB pair and the nominal U23 GB pair. Although not officially selected yet, the pairing of Harry Geffen and Miles Beeson are most likely the pair for the upcoming U23 World Championships in in Plovdiv next month. Although they are both British athletes, they are representing Yale University (which in itself is a bit unusual for Henley as normally US-based athletes race at Henley for their home clubs). They were the stern pair of the Yale Varsity boat which finished fourth at the IRAs. They have both represented Great Britain at the U23 level with Geffen winning gold in the BM8 and Beeson gold in the BM4-.
Representing Hollandia Roeiclub, the Netherlands are Eli Brouwer and Pieter Van Veen. They raced at the Varese World Cup finishing sixth in the A-Final. Brouwer, from the Triton Club, stroked their M4+ to victory in the famous Varsity race in April (the biggest race in the Dutch rowing calendar). Also, this season they won the Dutch Championships as a pair and last year raced at the final World Cup finishing 11th.
The fourth pre-qualified entry are Henry Stewart and Flynn Traeger of Stanford University. They were both members of the Stanford Varsity Eight that finished eighth at the IRAs. Traeger is a Brit and attended Latymer Upper School and raced for England at the Home International Championships in 2017. Stewart hails from Indianapolis and won the Coxed Four at the Scholastic National Championships in 2019 with his school, Culver Military Academy.
John Walkley and Joel Cullen (Rowing Canada) look to be the Canadian U23 pair. They have both raced at the U23 World Championships previously, Walkley winning gold in the BM4- in 2021 and Cullen placing fifth in the BM2- in 2022. They have both also just finished their senior years at the University of Washington and were in the Varsity Eight that won silver at the IRA’s. Walkley stroked the Visitors Four that won last year. It should be fun to watch if the draw pits any of the US varsity crews against one another.
The remaining 13 entries are racing qualifiers for the remaining three places which is going to be brutal (as are all qualifiers). One of the favourites to take a spot will be Michael Glover and Gareth Syphas, racing as St.Edward’s Martyrs Boat Club. They are both former Oxford Brookes oarsmen and have numerous Henley wins to their credit. Glover especially has a rich record from the Henley stretch with wins in the Temple in 2016, the Ladies in 2017, 2019 and 2021 and the Visitors in 2021. Whilst at Brookes they both rowed in the First Eight which won at Ratzeburg Regatta.
There are a number of Oxford and Cambridge boats entered. Racing as Crabtree Boat Club (the Cambridge alumni) is Benedict Aldous and Charlie Fisher. They were both members of the Cambridge Blue Boat in 2018. As a pair they raced at Marlow winning the B-Final.
Racing as Cambridge University are Noam Mouelle and Seb Benzecry. They were in the Blue Boat last year when Mouelle became the first Frenchman to row for Cambridge in the men’s Boat Race. Benzecry is the Cambridge President for 2023-24.
Oxford has three crews entered, two racing as Isis and one as the Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club. The Lightweights are Alex Wythe and Harrison Keiffer. Keiffer rowed in the Oxford Boat for the Lightweight Boat race in 2020-2023 winning twice and losing twice. Wythe was in the losing Oxford boat in 2022. As a pair they raced at Marlow finishing third.
The first Isis Boat Club entry is Jan Ernst and Colson Andrews. They were both members of the Isis crew for this year’s Boat Race and raced as a pair at the Metropolitan Regatta finishing second.
The second Isis Boat Club entry is Saxon Stacey and Tom Rigney. They were also in Isis for the 2023 Boat Race and last weekend won gold in the championship M2- at Marlow Regatta. Stacey won gold at the U19 World Championships in 2022.
There are a couple of entries from the USA that are being asked to race qualifiers, Taeden Landa and Owen Anawalt of Marin Rowing Association, are the spare pair for the Marin entry in the Princess Elizabeth. As juniors they may find the going a little hot, but a race down the course will be a good experience if either of them are called upon to step into the PE crew. The second US crew racing qualifiers are Matthew Wagner and Gregoire Lemeur, The Ivy Club of Princeton. They were both members of the Varsity 4+ that won gold at the IRA’s in 2022.
Of the remaining British entries, the ones to watch include Richard Sharratt & John Keen-Tomlinson (Kingston Rowing Club) winners at Nottingham City and sixth in Marlow plus Thomas and James Cracknell of Itchen Imperial Rowing Club, quarter-finalists last year and bronze medalists at Wallingford.
Predictions
Obviously Leander Club should win….but who do they face in the final….obviously a lot depends on the draw, but I would love to see a Leander v Yale final.
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