Holders: J. O. Gare & C. Dafydd, Leander Club
Entries: 26 (To be reduced to 12 by Qualifying races)
The standout boat in this event are the Kiwis, Finlay Hamill and Ben Mason (Waiariki Rowing Club, New Zealand). They were both on the New Zealand U23 team in 2022, with Hamill winning silver in the lightweight double and Mason bronze in the quad. They went on to race at the senior World Rowing Championships in 2023, and then, for this season, they formed a new doubles partnership, making an immediate impact in winning bronze at the Varese World Rowing Cup.
Given the strength of Dutch sculling over the past few years, it is perhaps surprising that it’s been 36 years since a Dutch crew won this event (Floryn/Rienks in 1989). This year, they stand a good chance of ending that drought. Pieter Van Veen and Guillaume Krommenhoek (Hollandia Roeiclub, The Netherlands) are both entered in The Diamond Challenge Sculls too, so it remains to be seen if they race in both events or restrict themselves to the double. Krommenhoek raced in the eight at the European Rowing Championships, but for Henley Royal Regatta, he is replaced in The Grand Challenge Cup by Finn Florijn. He was in the eight that won silver at the 2022 and 2023 World Rowing Championships and raced the pair in Tokyo. Van Veen raced in the single at the 2024 European Rowing Championships, finishing 15th. This season, he raced in the coxless four at both the European Rowing Championships and Varese World Rowing Cup, placing fourth in Plovdiv and second in Italy.
You have to go back to 1952 to find the last Belgian winners in The Double Sculls Challenge Cup (George and Van Stichel, if you are interested). Their entry for Henley Royal Regatta, though, could well be one of the strongest in some time, as it features Niels Van Zandweghe and Tim Brys (Koninklijke Roeivereniging Club Gent, Belgium). This duo raced together at the Tokyo Olympic Games, finishing fifth in the lightweight men’s double. After Tokyo, Brys moved to the open-weight division and produced an outstanding scull to finish fourth in the single at the Paris Olympic Games. Van Zandweghe remained in the lightweight category, qualifying for Paris with partner Tibo Vyvey, ending up ninth. With the removal of lightweight events from the Olympic programme, the former lightweight double are back together and could go very deep in the regatta this year.
Germany has two doubles entered, both of which are pre-qualified. The faster double looks to be the Rommelmann brothers, Julius and Jonathan (Crefelder Ruder-Club 1883 e.V. and Renn-Ruder Gemeinschaft Mülheim/Ruhr, Germany). Jonathan (two years older) won silver in the lightweight men’s double at the Tokyo Olympic Games and was also European lightweight double champion in 2019 along with world bronze medallist that year. He raced in the lightweight men’s single at the final World Rowing Cup last season, winning silver. Julius raced at all three World Rowing Cups last season, finishing sixth and fifth in the quad at the first two stagings and then 14th in the single in Lucerne.
The second German entry is Nikita Mohr and Finn Wolter (Rudern, Tennis und Hockey Club Bayer Leverkusen and Ruder-Club Witten, Germany). They are another pair of lightweights and won the lightweight double U23 World Rowing Championship gold in 2023. Wolter raced in the lightweight double at the Varese World Rowing Cup this season, winning a two-boat battle against Austria.
Racing as a Dutch/French composite are Oeds Blom and Cornelus Palsma (Roeivereeniging Studenten Vrije Universiteit Okeanos, Netherlands and Aviron du Pays de Fontainebleau, France). Despite the Dutch/French clubs in the entry list, this is the Netherlands men’s double that is racing in Lucerne at the second World Rowing Cup. Palsma’s parents are Dutch, and he holds dual citizenship, although he raced for the French U23 team at the World Rowing Championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024, winning silver in the lightweight quad in 2022 and bronze in the lightweight double in 2023 and 2024. Blom raced on the Dutch U23 team in 2023 and 2024, making the A-final in the eight in 2023 and then placing ninth in the four last year. This duo won the elite double at the Northwave Regatta last month.
Australia are at Henley Royal Regatta in force, and their entry in The Double Sculls Challenge Cup is Oscar McGuinness and Mitchell Reinhard (Rowing Australia, Australia). This duo raced together at the opening World Rowing Cups in both the 2024 and 2025 season, making the A-finals on both occasions. McGuinness raced in the single at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta but bowed out at the semifinal stage. Earlier this year, he won the open men’s single scull at the Australian Championships and also took the double title with Reinhard.
Canada last had a victorious crew in The Double Sculls Challenge Cup back in 1992, and they have entered the experienced duo of Trevor Jones and Terek Been (Rowing Canada and Shawnigan Lake School, Canada). Jones raced for Canada in the single at the Tokyo Olympic Games, placing third in the B-final. He went on to race the single at both the 2022 and 2023 World Rowing Championships. He raced in The Diamond Challenge Sculls in 2023, losing to Ollie Zeidler in the semifinal. Been finished fifth in the eight at the 2022 World Rowing Championships and then moved into the quad in 2023. Been also competed at Henley Royal Regatta in 2023, racing in The Queen Mother Challenge Cup, losing to the Poles in the semifinal.
The final pre-qualified crew are the British double of James Gare and Tobias Schroder (Leander Club). They are both part of the GB “Project LA” Olympic development team and raced together at the opening World Rowing Cup, winning the B-final. Gare is the defending champion in this event with his partner, Cedol Dafydd (now racing in the British quad). Schroder, an Oxford Blue, was U23 world champion in 2019 and 2021 and made his senior debut in 2023.
The Stewards have asked 17 crews to qualify for the remaining four places in the draw. Daniel Jones and Bryn Ellery (Leander Club) are the strongest contenders to take one of those spots. They were winners at Marlow Regatta and both have GB representative honours to their credit. Jones raced in the senior lightweight double at the 2023 European Rowing Championships and Ellery was part of the GB U23 team in 2022. Ellery also raced in the winning Prince of Wales Challenge Cup quad for Leander in 2022 and in 2023 lost in the semifinal of the doubles.
Leander has a second double on the entry list, Josh Lomas and Alex Clack. They finished third at Marlow Regatta and raced earlier this season in Ghent, finishing fourth.
Runners-up to Ellery & Jones at Marlow was the London Rowing Club and Lea Rowing Club composite of Louis Powell and Isaac Workman. Workman is an U23 European and world champion in the eight and also has Henley Royal Regatta wins in The Fawley Challenge Cup (2017 and 2018) and The Prince Albert Challenge Cup (2021). Powell has also raced for the GB U23 team, reaching the A-final at the U23 European Rowing Championships in the quad in 2023. This duo raced together in a Prince of Wales Challenge Cup quad at last year’s regatta, losing in the quarterfinal.
Fourth at Marlow Regatta were the highly talented junior double of Max Fullman and Alex Judd (Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club). They were favourites to win the championship doubles at the National Schools’ Regatta this year before racing got cancelled because of bad weather. Fullman raced at the U19 European Rowing Championships last year and earlier this season represented GB at the Munich Junior Regatta. Qualifying for the main draw would be a massive achievement for these two teenagers.
There are two GB/Overseas composites among the entries, the first of which are Jimmy Harlow and Herbie Austin-Baker (Sydney Rowing Club, Australia and Hinksey Sculling School). Harlow won The Fawley Challenge Cup with The Windsor Boys’ School in 2024 and is spending a year in Australia hence the Sydney Rowing Club entry. He raced for GB at the U19 World Rowing Championships. Austin-Baker has also been spending his gap year down under, in his case in New Zealand. He raced for Whanganui at the NZ Championships, winning bronze in the men’s senior single. He also raced the single at Marlow Regatta last weekend, finishing third.
The second Anglo/international entry are Philip Wolfensberger and Andrew Orio racing as St Paul’s School and Stanford University. They have both just completed their Freshman years at Stanford. Wolfensberger raced for GB at the U19 World Rowing Championships in 2023. Orio raced for the USA at the CanAmMex Regatta in 2019.
Another double who made the A-Final in Marlow was the Upper Thames Rowing Club and City of Oxford Rowing Club duo of Sam Clifford and Matt Swiss. They placed fifth overall and will need to overhaul the crews that finished ahead of them in Marlow to grab one of the four available qualifying spots.
Prediction
This could be one of the tightest Premier events of the whole regatta, with at least four crews in with a real chance of emerging victorious on Sunday. A lot will depend on the draw as I think any one of New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands and Belgium could take it, but if I had to stick my neck on the line and pick one, I’ll go for the Kiwis.
