Holders: M.M. Reckford & M.A. Sechser, U.S.A.
Entries: 15
Somewhat disappointingly there is no entry in this event from the senior GB team. Depending on the draw this event come lead to an all-Canadian final (which would be a first for the regatta). The two Canadian entries are the open weight double of Katie Clark and Marilou Duvernay Tardiff (racing as Maple Bay Rowing Club) plus the lightweight double of Jill Moffatt and Jennifer Casson (racing as Shawnigan Lake School). Both these doubles raced at the Varese World Cup last week with Clark and Duvernay-Tardiff finishing ninth in the W2X and Moffatt and Casson fifth in the LW2X. If these two boats do meet up at any stage during the regatta it should be fascinating to see the lightweights take on their open weight teammates.
There are a number of entries from athletes looking to break into the senior GB squad. Of these the pick of the bunch looks to be Vwaire Obukohwo and Katherine George (Twickenham Rowing Club and Leander Club). They raced at the U23 World Championships last year, winning bronze. They also raced at Henley Women’s Regatta last week, winning the Championship Double title.
Another strong entry is Rebecca Wilde and Kathryn Mole (Leander Club and the University of Birmingham). They were winners at the Metropolitan Regatta and were runners-up to the senior French W2x at the Wedau Regatta in Duisburg. They are both members of the GB Development squad and Wilde raced at the European U23 Championships, finishing fifth in the A Final of the BW2X.
Reading University’s Ellie Cooke and Finnola Stratton are another double with athletes looking to make the senior GB squad. They took gold in the Championship Double at BUCS and followed that with a silver medal at the Metropolitan Regatta. They made the semi-Final of Championship Doubles at Henley Women’s Regatta, losing to the eventual winners from Twickenham and Leander by 2.5 lengths.
The other strong British entry is the Strathclyde Park Rowing Club and Twickenham Rowing Club composite of Perri McClusky and Jade Lindo. They were winners at the Metropolitan Regatta and made the final of Championship Doubles at Henley Women’s. As with the other GB entries they are both members of the GB World Class Start programme.
The Netherlands has two crews entered, both of which have been pre-qualified. The pick of the pair is Isabel Van Opzeeland and Lotte Jansen racing as Hollandia Roeiclub. They are the BW2X for this seasons U23 World Championships. Van Opzeeland won an U23 silver medal in the BW8 in 2021 and Jansen was fourth in the same boat class last year. The other Netherlands combination is Margot Leeuwenburgh and Sidhi De Ruiter of Koninklijke Studenten Roeivereeniging Njord. De Ruiter is part of the Netherlands talent ID programme and Leeuwenburgh made her senior team debut at the Varese World Cup racing in the W2X with Marije Ijpma. This double won the ZRB Championships earlier this season (beating the reigning Dutch Champions) and raced at the European University Championships in Istanbul, winning a bronze medal.
Qualifying sees the seven remaining entries vying for the final four places. The Stewards are making two overseas entries race qualifiers, Yuxian Lu and Qianhui Wen of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, and Alessandra Braysich and Skye Pockley of Pymble Ladies College, Australia. Both doubles have travelled a long way to race Henley, and they won’t want to be knocked out before the main draw. However, the young Australians may have their work cut-out. They are both still juniors and were members of the Pymble Ladies College crew that reached the semi-finals of the Australian U19 Championships. The Chinese double have little pedigree to go on; Wen raced at Henley in 2019, but they admit to having very little race experience in the last 12 months.
One crew that will have high hopes of qualifying are the second of two Scottish boats in the event, Catriona Norval and Laura Bates of Strathclyde Park Rowing Club and Leeds University. They won the Scottish Championships and have been selected to race for Scotland at the Home International Regatta. They are both also members of the GB World Class Start programme.
Another duo who are members of the World Class Start programme are Rebekah Court and Phoebe Hayden of the University of Bath. They won Intermediate Doubles at BUCS. They didn’t race together at Henley Women’s, but Hayden made the second round in the Championship Single and Court was in the Aspirational Quad that made the final.
It’s not often that a crew from Leander Club find themselves racing qualifiers but that is the fate for Olivia Hill and Sophie Chumas. They raced at the Metropolitan Regatta earlier this season, making the A-Final. They were part of the Leander Club ‘C’ crew that raced in the Championship Quads at Henley Women’s Regatta, losing in the quarter-final to their own ‘B’ crew.
The final two crews racing qualifiers are Sarah Lewis and Issy Barnes of Greenbank Falmouth Rowing Club (fifth at the Metropolitan Regatta and winners of Aspirational Doubles at Henley Women’s Regatta) and Amelia Moule and Martha Bullen of Sudbury Rowing Club (silver medallists at Nottingham City Regatta and 11th at the Met).
Predictions
The Canadian Lightweight double (Shawnigan Lake) may well be the favourites over their open weight compatriots. It’s going to be interesting to see if any of the GB or Netherlands U23/development boats can cause an upset. I’m hoping the draw presents an all-Canadian semi with then the top GB entry (most likely the Twickenham/Leander pairing) up against the Hollandia U23 boat – if that pans out then they should both be fantastic races. But, if I’ve got to pick an overall winner I’m going for Shawnigan Lake.
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