Pairs are often the wildcard. Much like the single, they’re so much more on the individuals in the boat than the program they’re in. Time in the boat, technical ability, strength and stamina all come in display in what is one of the toughest boat classes to race. With what seems to be no trialling pairs entered, senior and U23, and the big hitting clubs of Leander and Molesey nowhere to be found, this year’s event will be one one of the best watches of the weekend. So how do they stack up? I’ve done the work for us all and given a breakdown of how the best crews are looking.
Oxford Brookes University
Not one to usually venture outside of fours and eights outside of trials, Oxford Brookes have entered a pair. This combination is the same seen from the inter lightweight pair seen at BUCS regatta, achieving a silver medal only two seconds behind gold. Could this be a start of Brookes extending their pot hunt to new categories? If we know anything, they’ll come out the blocks strong and put up the fight of their life.
Cork BC, Ireland
They say that if a club has travelled from far, they haven’t come all that way to lose. With two crews entered, Cork will surely be here to take a shiny medal home. While one crew may be new to the pair at Dorney, the pair steered by J Cuddy achieved a third place at last year’s event. While they may have had a large gap to close on the top two crews, with the competition missing and a year to train, could this be Cork’s time to bring the gold to Ireland?
Skibbereen RC, Ireland
Another club from Ireland, they need no introduction. A club that births Olympic talent, we could be seeing the next crop of talent rising through the ranks. At last year’s regatta, this combination from Skibereen, steered by D Casey, achieved a first place finish in the B final. While there may have been disappointment in not being in the top eight, they finished only 0.1s behind the overall fifth place finisher when comparing times. Perhaps they would have learned and decided to give some more beans in the time trial and see what they can do.
Durham University
Another BUCS combination crew, one of these Durham boats has something to prove. After getting into the C Final at BUCS regatta this year in the intermediate category, Clunies-Ross‘s pair achieved a fifth place. It was the another palatinate combination that took the gold, and this just goes to show that Durham have what it takes to produce top performing boats in this class. This weekend they have two boats entered and a big ask to turn over some of the other crews in this category. The Durham race may not be one for gold at this event, but certainly one to watch.
Shiplake College
Producing an impressive four crews in this event, Shiplake might know something we don’t. A great college for producing rowing talent, they no doubt have Henley on their mind. With the only junior men’s sweep event being an eight, the Princess Elizabeth, perhaps this is a part of extensive seat racing or technical work to help produce the best eight possible. Either way, it will prove valuable experience for the juniors and will be an interesting watch.
Neptune RC, Ireland
An A Final returning crew, Neptune saw a sixth place finish at last year’s event. Sitting just behind Skibbereen on time, they have some competition to take home as shiny of a medal as possible. But given they clearly went harder on their time trial, resulting in an A Final place, will they have the ability to recover better than Skibbereen before the final? I can definitely see a tough fight ahead…
Predictions
While Shiplake are strong, I suspect they just won’t be able to face up to the senior heavyweight pairs due to their raw power and experience. I predict that Cork will see their pair fight a tough race and get that deserved gold, with Skibbereen close behind at second. Neptune will try and fight to make their medal shinier, but ultimately fall short with a bronze. Oxford Brookes vs Durham will be a great watch and we can only hope they end up next to each other in the final. But who will come on top? A few place trades, Brookes will eventually pull away and stay shifting their boat at high speeds as Durham succumbs to fatigue. Shiplake will get one or two crews in the A final, with one managing to stay ahead of St Paul’s school, another strong junior program.
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