With 7 different rowing clubs entering a total of 15 crews who will race a distance of 4000m on the Upper Thames, the often disregarded doubles’ boat class is shaping up to be a nail-biter.
Time and time again the 2x has been brushed aside for its sweep counterpart, the pair. But, 15 crews from around the country will be enduring everything the Thames has to throw at them to make their mark and win the ultimate prize.
Henley Rowing Club
A club which has earned international renown over the years, Henley Rowing Club have two WJ16 2x entries. The first of these is made from Tabitha Hall and Freya Weiser, the winners of the Junior Sculling Regatta in their WJ15 2x. Here, we have an already accomplished crew setting an extremely high standard for the rest of the pack while fighting to maintain their standing as the fastest W16 2x, while being a year older and a year wiser. Henley have also entered another double in which Ruby Rodgers sits at stroke, carrying over her skills from stroking the octo which also won JSR. I have no doubt a Henley crew will be sitting very high up in the finishing results, but which crew and where they sit exactly remains to be seen.
Headington School Oxford Boat Club
After a very succesful WJ18 8+ at Henley Royal Regatta, HSOBC, like all other crews at this time of year, have turned their focus to the gruelling Heads races, having entered multiple boats into the WJ16 2x. While I cannot be absolutely certain, I think it it safe to assume that their WJ15 2x that came second at JSR by 20 seconds to the Henley Crew, will be vying for the gold medal spot at Wallingford, along with 3 other HSBOC doubles who are all looking very competitive.
Guilford Rowing Club
Another club with multiple particapants, Guilford Rowing Club has entered the experienced double of Ruby Lloyd and Trinny Vasanthan who also competed at JSR and gained invaluable experience from it, making the most of a diminshed J15 season. They are joined by Annie Williams in her double who placed 17th nationally at the Junior Sculling Regatta, and who I’m sure is looking to start climbing up the ladder into higher ranking positions.
Other Entries
Abingdon Boat Club has also entered 2 boats, one containing Eleanor Ashely-Carter, an accomplished single sculler who placed 5th at JSR in her WJ15 1x. Competing along with them are Maidenhead Rowing Club, and Stratford Rowing Club along with the home-team of Wallingford Rowing Club, who greatly benefit from a steering advantage over this 4km course.
Prediction
The Henley crew of Hall and Weiser are the definite favourites for this race, and may very well be unchallenged unless the Headington crew have made a shift in the summer and are waiting to show us. The second Henley 2x is bound to do well due to the nature of their coaching and could very well be challenging for a Henley 1-2 while the Headington boats battle with the Guilford and Abingdon crews for the lower positions.
Britney Steers
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