There are three entrants to this year’s Stewards’ event, and it certainly looks like a more exciting affair than the Grand which only has two. Brookes, Hollandia and Leander will all have a realistic chance of taking this event although the Stewards’ clearly have their money on Brookes having given them a bye straight to the final.
Oxford Brookes
This is the top four athletes from Oxford Brookes – Sam Nunn, Sam Bannister, Ollie Wilkes and David Ambler – and they have all competed at senior level for Great Britain this season with Ollie Wilkes just missing out on selection for Tokyo and the other three racing at World Cup III as part of the Project Paris squad. They are all doubling up in this event and in the Grand with four others from Brookes, which could come into play depending on the schedule for finals day. They proved they could manage it though, winning both the eight and four at Marlow Regatta on the same day, although certainly for this event, the opposition is tougher.
Leander
This crew is the same as the one which lost out to Brookes at Marlow with one change being Harry Glenister coming in for James Vogel and James Robson, Ryan Todhunter and Ed Grisdale retaining their seats. This is Leander’s top boat at the Regatta and they will no doubt be aiming for the win. In recent years Leander have not seen the success they would like at HRR, thanks in part to the dominance of Brookes, but will this be the year? Even a win on the Saturday against Brookes would be a big success for this crew.
Hollandia
This crew races under the guise of the Dutch National Team, and rightly so, all being athletes on the Team but not making it into the Olympic crews. The same four raced at World Cup II in Lucerne this year and placed fifth in the A final, 0.03 seconds behind the Italian crew which won bronze in Tokyo.
Prediction: Hollandia to win in the final over Oxford Brookes.
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