The open men’s pairs is shaping up to be one of the more intriguing events at this year’s Rowing NSW Small Boats Regatta. There are only six entries, but there’s a case to be made for all of them to walk away with a medal in their keeping. With temperatures expected to be above 30 degrees for the midday race, the challenge will be to maintain technique and speed in sapping conditions.
Sydney
There are three crews wearing the light blue of Sydney Rowing Club, with Miles Harrold and George Bell potentially the quickest of the three. Bell is an Oxford Brookes alumnus making his way to Australia, with the 2025 Temple Challenge Cup finalist also very fast on the erg. Harrold is no slouch either, representing the Australian U23 team in 2024, New South Wales in the 2025 King’s Cup, as well as winning gold in the open eights and silver in the open fours at last year’s Australian Rowing Championships.
Connor McGillan and Angus Aitken shouldn’t be discounted either. McGillan has recently moved to Australia, and the Northern Irishman from Coleraine’s Bann Rowing Club will want to make an impression in his first race down under. A Temple Challenge Cup winner with Oxford Brookes in 2022, the big question will be how much the heat takes out of him. Aitken is a reigning national champion in the club eights and fours, and has gained speed since then.
Pushing them hard will be James Fredricson and Galen Quinn. Both left last year’s Australian Rowing Championships with extra luggage, with Fredericson (not to be confused with Australian U23 rep James Frederikson) winning bronze in the club eights and Quinn gold in the open and club eights and silver in the club fours. Followers of Quinn’s ‘muricanbloke’ Instagram feed know he’s been training hard in recent months, so win or lose, there’s guaranteed to be an entertaining post afterwards.
Sydney University
How do you stop Sydney’s sweepers from sweeping medals? If you’re Sydney University’s Max Garnett and Gus Ciesiolka, you show exactly why you pulled on the green and gold zootie in 2025. Half of last year’s Australian U19 four, the Prince Alfred College and St Joseph’s College graduates will look to bring their international and warm-weather experience to the fore.
UTS
Mackenzie Thompson and Henry Blackwell pull on the black, white and teal of UTS in this event. Blackwell won the open sculls at the 2025 Sprint Regatta, while Thompson won gold in the U23 fours and silver in the U23 eights at the 2025 Australian Rowing Championships. Both have also done well in the 5km time trials run at the end of last year, consistently placing in the top 10 on prognostics. Another crew that will be very hard to beat.
University of Queensland/Sydney University
The final crew racing is a Sydney University/University of Queensland composite of William Rogers and Lex Tucker. Tucker makes the trek down from Brisbane, having won the pairs, fours and eights at last weekend’s Queensland Rowing Championships, while Rogers is a 2025 U23 and 2024 U19 Australian representative. The main question is how well they’ll gel in a new combination; get that right, and they’ll be challenging for the gold.
Prediction
As we said at the start, you could make a case for just about any of these crews. In the absence of a tipping octopus to help us out, we’re going to suggest Sydney’s Miles Harrold and George Bell to seal the win. The hot weather experience from the Queensland Rowing Championships will help William Rogers and Lex Tucker secure second, ahead of Sydney’s Connor McGillan and Angus Aitken.
