Tom Bryce, Oxford Brookes University
It’s not often that a fresher winds up winning both the Temple Challenge Cup and U23 world gold. Tom Bryce is not a normal cox though. Having plied his trade at Reading Blue Coat School as a junior, Tom stepped into Brookes’ Temple eight after only a few months in the squad. His season reads like a greatest hits recall for rowers far more experienced than him – BUCS Regatta double gold, fourth overall at the HORR, a crushing Henley win and then ultimate international glory on the glistening waters of Plovdiv.
Jasper Parish, Cambridge University Boat Club
Two years ago, Jasper was probably outshone by a brother who was part of the fastest junior crew ever and a world champion at that level, not to mention a father who rowed at the Atlanta Olympics. After collecting two Boat Race wins, there’s no doubting that he’s a force in his own right now. His manoeuvre in the men’s contest in April was decisive in sheltering Cambridge from some appalling weather and allowing them to drive onwards to victory. It had barely been conceived as possible, let alone successfully piloted in front of hundreds upon thousands of spectators, and that judgement call alone justifies Jasper’s place on this list.
Felix Jamieson, St Edward’s School
To steer a Henley-winner crew at the tender age of 15 requires some character. The cox is the extension of the coach on the water, the technical conductor and tenacious motivator required to drive their charges on into the history books. Felix only took up coxing this season and rose to the top of not only Teddies squad but the country in guiding his crew to victory in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. An astonishing achievement.
Sophie Wrightson, Headington School
Sophie is a veteran of the junior circuit at this point but 2023 was another vintage year for the talented young coxswain. After steering the British women’s eight to a silver medal at the 2022 World Rowing Junior Championships, she returned to Headington School and led them on one of their most successful campaigns in recent memory, culminating in wins at both the National Schools’ Regatta and Henley Women’s Regatta. Although they were narrowly beaten in the semi-finals of the Prince Philip Challenge Trophy by eventual winners Greenwich Crew – themselves coxed by the American winner of the 2022 world junior women’s title – Sophie rounded off her season in epic style by steering the British junior women’s eight to world gold in Paris.
Erin Kennedy, Great Britain Paralympic Team
Words sort of fail on account of Erin’s staggering achievements. Already a Paralympic champion at the Tokyo games, she was then diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2022, just four days before the finals of World Rowing Cup I. Astonishingly, she’s kicked the sort of adversity that would put any normal person down into touch and steered the PR3 Mix4+ to victories at the 2023 European Rowing Championships and World Rowing Cup II. The expectation is she’ll be in the driving seat for the World Rowing Championships in September. If she goes onto claim a second Olympic title in Paris, her legacy in the sport – already layered and impressive – will be immortal and enduring.
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