Holders: Leander Club
Entries: 7
This looks like it could be another epic GB v Netherlands showdown. Great Britain, racing as Nottingham Rowing Club and Twickenham Rowing Club, are the reigning European champions with their lineup of Cedol Dafydd, Callum Dixon, Matt Haywood and Rory Harris. Dixon and Haywood were part of the quad that finished fourth at the Paris Olympic Games and also fourth at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. Harris and Dafydd both made their senior debuts last season, racing at the third World Rowing Cup. As well as winning the European Rowing Championships this season, the British won bronze at the Varese World Rowing Cup (albeit with a sub racing instead of a sick Callum Dixon).
The Netherlands, racing as Hollandia Roeiclub, were runners-up to the British at the European Rowing Championships, and three of that crew are in the line-up for Henley Royal Regatta: Gert-Jan Van Doorn, Lucas Keijzer and Mats van Sabben. The addition of Paris Olympic quad champion Leonard Van Lierop strengthens the crew. Van Doorn also raced in Paris, winning silver in the eight. The Dutch did not race as a quad in Varese, but Van Doorn and Keijser raced as a double, finishing tenth, and Lierop raced the pair that came ninth.
There are a couple of very exciting entries from boats put together just for Henley Royal Regatta. The first is Moss Roklubb and Norske Studenters Roklub, Norway. This crew is Kristoffer Brun, Jan Helvig, Kjetil Borch and Erik Solbakken. Borch has firmly secured his place in Henley Royal Regatta folklore after losing in the final of The Diamond Challenge Sculls in 2018 in possibly the best final in Henley Royal Regatta history (look it up on YouTube if you don’t believe me). He was an Olympic single silver medallist in Tokyo and a bronze medallist in the double in Rio. He competed in his third Olympic Games in Paris, finishing tenth in the double. Brun has four Olympic Games under his belt, winning bronze in the lightweight double in Rio. Illness meant his crew missed out on a chance to repeat a podium place in Tokyo, and for Paris, he was part of the quad that finished eighth. Helvig and Solbakken were also in the Paris quad for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The other interesting entry is from Ireland’s Skibbereen Rowing Club and University College, Dublin. This boat includes Olympic and world champions Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan, along with Konan Pazzaia and Daire Lynch. As well as winning multiple world and Olympic titles, McCarthy and O’Donovan won The Double Sculls Challenge Cup in 2021. This quartet are racing in two doubles at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup: McCarthy with Pazzaia and O’Donovan with Lynch. This season, the former duo raced the double at the European Rowing Championships, winning the bronze medal. Lynch was in the double that won bronze in Paris. This should be a really fun boat to watch race.
Racing as Team Espana, Spain are Aleix Garcia Pujolar, Jordi Jofre Senciales, Gonzalo Garcia Ferrero and Rodrigo Conde Romero. They finished fifth at the European Rowing Championships. Garcia Pujolar and Conde Romero gave Spain its first-ever Henley Royal Regatta victory when they won The Double Sculls Challenge Cup in 2023. They were also the Spanish double at the Paris Olympic Games, making the A-final. Senciales and Ferrero have both represented Spain in the single at the World Rowing Championships; Senciales placed 19th in 2022, and Ferrero ended up 21st the following year.
Racing as Rowing Australia are a relatively young and inexperienced crew from down under. Nicholas Blackman and Johnson Daubney have U23 medals (Blackman silver in the double last year and Daubney a bronze in the quad from 2023). They join Jackson Free, who made his senior international debut at the Varese World Rowing Cup. He’s the fourth member of his family to represent Australia (after his grandfather Reg, his father Marcus and uncle Duncan). He raced in both The Diamond Challenge Sculls and Double Sculls Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta last year and has several Queensland state titles to his credit. The fourth crew member is also the most experienced. Alex Rossi raced in the quad that missed Olympic qualification at the Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta and raced at both the second and third World Rowing Cups last season. This crew raced at the Varese World Rowing Cup, finishing ninth.
The final crew in the event is Reading University, and with all due respect to the crew, they are somewhat out of their depth in this event. The crew of Mohammad Hammad, Adam Makepeace, Matthew Hand and Jack Allingham were fourth in the intermediate quad at BUCS Regatta and 11th in championship quads at the Metropolitan Regatta. They raced at Marlow, finishing 12th in Tier 2 quads (with four other Reading University quads finishing above them in championship and Tier 2).
Prediction
I am going for a home win for the Nottingham/Twickenham composite.
