Thirteen crews make the entry list for the Championship Pairs event at this year’s Henley Women’s Regatta. With most of the big clubs prioritising the crew boats those in this event are likely athletes going fro trials or perhaps not eligible in the aspirational events as is presumably the case for some of the university crews here. What is in no doubt, however, is the quality seen here which will make for some fantastic faces particularly in the latter rounds.
Imperial College London BC
The Imperial College women’s squad have been performing well so far throughout the season, and the pairing of L. Ellington and E. Witt already has experience of racing together. The pair came fourth in the incredibly fast A final of the Women’s Championship Pairs at the BUCS Regatta. If they can put in a strong time trial performance to be named as one of the six seeded crews, this pair could make some good progress through the event, with adequate potential to reach the semi-final.
Durham University BC
The pair of Evelyna Davies and Natasha Morrice has made appearances at several head races and regattas over the 2021-22 rowing season, including at the GB rowing trials where they placed 13th overall and were the second fastest U23 crew in the Women’s Championship Pairs event at BUCS, they only narrowly missed out on the win to the Cambridge pair containing Olympian Imogen Grant. Their experience in racing together will put them in a very strong position to do well in this event, and they have a good chance of making the final.
Brown University, USA
Making the trip across the pond is no small undertaking so this boat likely has some serious speed behind it. Giannetti has been racing in the varsity four for most of the season, which came 12th at the recent NCAA championships, while Herring was a member of the US Junior National Team for 2021, coming 6th in the junior women’s quad at the World Championships. She also came third in the single scull at the 2021 Youth National Championships. This is a young crew but there is no lack of experience and they are well-positioned to challenge the top domestic crews.
Leander Club
Annie Campbell-Orde and Sophia Heath will be going into this event as firm favourites given that both are part of the ‘Project Paris’ squad based out of the British Rowing training centre at Caversham. They were both selected as part of the development women’s eight sent out to race the Windermere Cup in Seattle, which they won. The two have a wealth of experience of international racing, so will be able to row maturely through the event to get them in the best place for an expected final on Sunday.
Bucknell University, USA
Another crew travelling from the states, the pairing of G. Lambrakis and C. Segal come as the alternatives for the varsity eight entered in the Ron Needs Cup for Championship Women’s Eights. This eight won most recently won the Patriot League gold on the Cooper River against other universities in the same athletic division as them.
Prediction
Foregoing any major upsets or disasters, I would predict that the Leander crew of Annie Campbell-Orde and Sophia Heath will win the Redgrave Challenge Vase. Depending on the way the draw goes, I would expect a Durham or Brookes losing finalist, but as it goes with one-vs-one racing, there is the possibility of the crews meeting earlier in the event, giving space for a surprise pair to take second place!
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