Now that we are approaching the sharp end of the racing season, the championship doubles provide an insight into the elite club and university-level rowing that juniors can aspire to recreate in the coming years. They will surely offer some of the best and most exciting racing of the weekend.
Bath University
The Norton family are out in force this weekend, and this pair of brothers should be well known by this point for producing some of the most technically sound rowing you can see on the university circuit. Jack Norton, the senior brother, likes his racing in the lightweight categories, but as we have seen repeatedly, the top end of the lightweight scene generally punches quite literally well above their weight to contend with the heavyweights. These men will make an incredibly neat double, which I am sure will be a force to be reckoned with.
Clydesdale ARC/ Edinburgh University Boat Club
Ben Parsonage may not be a name you often hear in the Midlands of England, but in Scotland, he is somewhat revered as a mammoth of talent in the single scull. Taking the bull by the horns, he raced Olympic bronze medallist Simon van Dorp in The Diamond Challenge Sculls recently, which was no mean feat, but he held his nerve and put on a brilliant performance against the Dutchman. Joining forces now with Ollie Plank from Edinburgh University, these two men will come to Nottingham with something to prove and show the country the speed that Scotland has to offer.
Hinksey Sculling School
Jimmy Harlow and Herbie Austin-Baker are two of the most considerable talents circulating on the junior scene of late. Jimmy, who has just returned from a year spent at the prestigious Sydney Rowing Club in Australia, raced at the U19 World Rowing Championships in Canada in the quadruple sculls last summer, and the year before at the Coupe De La Jeunesse in the quad. Jimmy was joined at the Coupe by Herbie, who raced the single and performed exceptionally well. The boys have had a good season together, qualifying and racing the double at Henley Royal Regatta. This double is to be underestimated at your peril, as they have shown their pedigree time and time again.
Edinburgh University Boat Club / Weybridge Rowing Club
On the surface, this seems like an odd composite; two opposite sides of the nation coming together to form an unlikely pairing, but when you look at the names, you should get very excited. Nick Didaskalou and Freddy Foxwell are both athletes developed at Leander Club, and having been a key part of their junior programme, have been drilled in the same technical model that allows them to sync up together and row like national team athletes at an incredibly young age. The boys will use this experience and ability to their advantage, I am sure, when they begin to tear up the course at Nottingham.
Prediction
I think it is fair to say that with their pedigree, the win must go to Hinksey Sculling School. The rest of the field will be very tight, but I think the synchronicity and technical prowess of the Norton of Bath University brothers cannot be underestimated, which makes me lean towards them clinching the silver medal. Therefore, it’s a battle between the boys from Scotland and the Edinburgh University Boat Club / Weybridge Rowing Club composite crew. In this instance, while the latter duo have moved on to their respective new clubs, they will still bleed pink, directly showing their racing and rowing ability. So, for that reason, I think they will snatch the bronze medal.
