New Zealand (Bronze)
New Zealand were the last country other than Great Britain to win the world championships in this category, taking the title in 2019. Jackie Kiddle was in that boat, with partner Zoe McBride, a pairing that also won world championship silver in 2017. However, with McBride retiring from international rowing after winning the world championships, Kiddle formed a new partnership with Rachael Kennedy, but that combo failed to connect and finished 2022 in ninth. Last season, Kiddle was paired with Shannon Cox, making her debut on the international team, and they made the A-Final at both the final World Rowing Cup and the world championships. This season, they’ve shown significant improvement in their speed, finishing ahead of the Americans to take silver at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup and then winning gold at the final World Rowing Cup (in the absence of their main rivals).
United States of America (Silver)
The Americans have come closer than anyone to breaking the British run of victories. At the Lucerne World Rowing Cup last season, they got within 8/100th of Craig/Grant, but ultimately just came up short. The pairing of Reckford and Sechser raced together at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing one place behind the British. In 2022 they won the second World Rowing Cup and then took silver at the world championships. The USA took silver again in 2023 (with Sechser racing with Mary Jones and Reckford racing in the quad). This season, they’ve made one appearance, taking bronze behind GB and New Zealand at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup. 2024 is Sechser’s 12th season as a senior international and she won her first world championship medal (a bronze) back in 2017. Reckford started her senior career in 2019 but didn’t become a regular member of the team until Olympic year in 2021.
Great Britain (Gold)
If you had to bet your house on one crew to win in Paris then the safest bet looks to be Emily Craig and Imogen Grant in the lightweight women’s double. They have totally dominated this event since agonisingly missing out on a medal in Tokyo. As a partnership, their record now extends to 25 races including two world championship wins and two European titles. The one fly in the ointment came at this year’s Europeans, when Craig had to withdraw at short notice due to illness and Grant raced with Olivia Bates, finishing fourth. Normal service was resumed at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup, where any concerns over Craig’s health were firmly allayed when she and Grant delivered another gold medal performance in winning by over three seconds. As in the men’s equivalent, there is an added sense of history in this event in Paris as it marks the swansong for lightweights at the Olympics, and whilst any Olympic gold is remarkable, both Paris golds will have just that little bit extra “specialness”.
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