Watch Devizes to Westminster live via the Paddler Media Live Stream on YouTube, this Saturday and Sunday

On Saturday 4th April, more than sixty crews of Senior Doubles will depart from Devizes, an ancient market town in Wiltshire, headed towards Westminster. They’ll have 125 miles and 77 portages ahead of them, and most importantly – they have to reach Teddington Lock by 7:30am or risk not finishing the race.

Conditions in 2023 and 2024 featured fast flow that helped crews shoot down the Thames at record-breaking speeds. In 2025, the river flow was more typical (about 30 cumecs at Kingston) and, combined with a strong headwind, more than half of the crews racing were forced to retire because they didn’t hit checkpoints in time.

Surprise entry from “Storm Dave”

This weekend, Storm Dave has put in a late entry and threatens to either turn the race into one of the most difficult slogs in recent years, or blast paddlers with a stiff tailwind making the race fly by. Possibly the former for the first half of the race and the latter for the second half. As of Friday afternoon, the forecast shows wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour near Reading at 1am. Storm Katie made 2016 one of the hardest DW’s in recent memory and led to the Stages Race being shortened. There’s been no indication from race officials that the current forecast will affect the race at all, but Storm Dave could certainly make things interesting overnight.

Top Contenders

Last year, the top 3 crews were too close to call the whole way down the course: at Teddington, they were separated by just minutes. By the time they had all arrived at Westminster, there was still only 4 minutes between 1st (Tom Sharpe / Anoushka Freeman) and 2nd (Joe Petersen / Brynde Kreft), and 2nd and 3rd (Billy Butler / Jon O’Grady). Eight minutes total from 1st to 3rd. 2026 is looking like another close race at the top, particularly between the top two crews which are led by Billy Butler and Alex Lane.

Billy and Alex are both previous winners: Billy won with Jim King in 2017, and Alex became the second woman (after Lizzie Broughton, before Anoushka Freeman) to win DW outright when she and Dan Seaford won in 2019.  She also holds the Ladies Record with Kat Wilson from 2016. They had the fiercest rivalry over the course of the Newbury Canoe Club Waterside Series, and these two crews will almost certainly be taking turns as the quickest boat all weekend.

Alex Lane is racing with Magnus Gregory: they both raced internationally for Team GB about ten years ago and won World/European medals in the Junior and U23 categories, but then took a step back from paddling. Both are excellent runners, and made the most of their portaging skills during Watersides A, B, and C where they were able to consistently get the better of Billy Butler and Jon O’Grady. But this will be Magnus’ first DW and first ultra paddling race. Often, the first DW is the hardest – Magnus will no doubt be pushing his body and mind to new limits on the way to Westminster. Regardless of whether they win, it will be a brilliant return to racing for both Alex and Magnus and hopefully the start of a permanent return to the sport. And if they do pull off the win, it’ll have the added sweetness of being a very special wedding gift to themselves. The couple is engaged, with nuptials scheduled for this summer.

Billy Butler and Jon O’Grady will be taking on their third DW together, and after 2nd and 3rd places the last two years, they’re determined to finally take the top spot in 2026. Last year, they had a virtually perfect race together despite illness and injury. Billy and Jon had a slower start to the Waterside Series at A, but got back into their rhythm from there and went on to break their own K2 Veteran record at Waterside C and take the Vet record for the Series. So they should be even quicker on the water than last year, the question is just: is that enough to beat Alex and Magnus?

Crew	Club	Class	Time
Alex Lane / Magnus Gregory	Reading / Southampton	Mixed	2:56:06
Billy Butler / Jon O’Grady	Falcon (Oxford) / Runcorn	Veteran Men	2:57:08
George Durden / James Walkinton	Elmbridge / Chelmsford	Senior Men	3:00:18
Luke Escott / James Webster	Bradford On Avon	Senior Men	3:02:56

Crew	Club	Class	Time
Billy Butler / Jon O’Grady	Falcon (Oxford) / Runcorn	Veteran Men	4:49:24
George Durden / James Walkinton	Elmbridge / Chelmsford	Senior Men	4:50:23
Jouke Witteveen / Floor Zegers	International – Rotterdam (Netherlands)	Senior Men	4:56:52
Luke Escott / James Webster	Bradford On Avon	Senior Men	5:01:28

Those top 2 crews are the likely leaders of a clear Top 5 (or 6) fighting for the overall win. The next few crews haven’t been quite as speedy over the prep races (with one notable exception), but if anything goes wrong for the top 2, they’ll be hot on their heels.

George Durden / James Walkinton finished #1 and #2 in the Senior Singles DW Stages Race last year, so where better to go from there than forming a crew for Senior Doubles? They’ve performed consistently near the top at the Waterside Series, and even got the better of Billy / Jon at Waterside A (1:42:50 versus 1:44:30). George has raced internationally in marathon canoe as recently as 2023, and he and James both raced on the top 2 relay teams at last year’s Thames 200 Ultra. They have clear podium potential, but with the significant challenges that this will be the first non-stop DW for both of them, and they don’t have as much time in the boat together as the other top crews. George is based at Elmbridge Canoe Club, while James is based at Chelmsford Canoe Club – opposite sides of wider London. But having done DW last year, even the Stages race, is a great advantage in knowing the course and building ultra endurance. So keep an eye on these two, and if they don’t podium in their first DW together, they’ll surely do it on the second try.

Luke Escott / James Webster have been quietly dropping some of the most consistent results at the Waterside Series, and that consistency could well take them to a podium placement this year. They finished Waterside D in just over 5 hours, and as Billy Butler predicted on Paddlecast: that’s what you need to be in the mix for the DW podium. Luke raced with his cousin Tim Escott last year, and unfortunately didn’t finish when they got pulled off at Teddington for missing the time cut-offs. While it will be the first DW non-stop finish for both Luke and James this year, they’ve had plenty of time to train together since they both hail from Bradford-on-Avon Canoe Club, and Luke’s experience from last year means he knows the course well and should know how to pace himself.

Jouke Witteveen / Floor Zegers from the Netherlands are the favourite to win the International trophy (again), and for Jouke (pronounced like ‘yow-keh’), that will be mission accomplished. He’s already in the DW 1000 miler club having raced virtually every year since 2015, but he wants 1000 miles specifically on the International trophy. It’s their third year in a row racing together, and Jouke and Floor have consistently put down some of the quickest times at the start of the race. Last year, they were the fastest team to Pewsey in 01:36:24. They ultimately finished 6th place overall, but if they can hold that early speed a bit longer, they could have a shot at the podium this year.

While that rounds out the Top 5 as predicted on Paddlecast and agreed by Kat Wilson (nee Burbeck)’s Runners and Riders list, there’s a 6th crew with an outside shot at Top 5 (and maybe podium?). But they haven’t raced in the UK this year…

Tom Dawson / Aritz Martiartu are a UK-Spain combined crew who might just place inside the Top 5 (or better). Tom knows the course well: he’s paddled every inch up to Putney and completed DW non-stop to Teddington in 2022 as well as K1 stages in 2015. But this will be his first non-stop finish at Westminster. Aritz is based in Pamplona and he’s raced plenty of marathon, including 7 finishes of the famous Sella Descent, but this will be his first DW attempt. Tom and Aritz raced the Ardeche (France) together last year, and finished just outside the top 20.

The Women’s Race

The women’s race has been heating up over the Waterside Series with a rivalry developing between Sarah Vernau / Shuna Neave and Anja Whelan / Rebecca Bird. Shuna is a very experienced DW racer and won the women’s race three times with Kat Burbeck Wilson, while Sarah is going for her first Westminster finish after two retirements. Shuna and Sarah have been clearly leading the Waterside races, but Anja and Rebecca jumped in speed at Waterside C to finish only 2 minutes behind Shuna and Sarah.

Rebecca finished her first non-stop in 2024 at Teddington and retired after Teddington last year after facing injury and timing issues, so she’s going for her first Westminster finish while Anja is going for her first DW attempt ever. Both raced together at the Thames 200 Ultra the last couple of years including overnight sections of the relay, so they know the course well.

There’s several other women’s crews racing, including Mocha Pilkington and Maria Fischer who are aiming to win the Ladies C2 race in the Canadian category. But everything points to the battle for first place being between Sarah / Shuna and Anja / Rebecca.

The “Love Boat Race”

Something is in the air this Easter, because the mixed race seems to be filled with couples! Alex and Magnus are far and ahead the favourites to win the mixed trophy, but the race for 2nd and 3rd is shaping up to be very close.

Overall winner for the last two years, Anoushka Freeman has opted for a different type of race this year teaming up with her partner, Rob Perry who has taken up paddling just to race DW. They’ve been training hard for months, and recently won the mixed crew Waterside Series crown. According to the couple, racing together was Rob’s idea – something about crewing for Noushie three years in a row gave him the paddling bug.

Right behind Anoushka and Rob at the prep races were Simon Tilbury-Clarke / Jessica Long and Alex Bowyer / Elle Bowyer, who were separated by just seconds at Waterside C. Jess finished in 2024 at Teddington and raced Endeavor in 2022; she retired at Teddington last year.  Simon has finished the DW Stages Race, but after two attempts in 2023 and 2025, this will be his first non-stop finish and Jess’ first non-stop finish at Westminster. Alex and Elle are also experienced DW paddlers: Elle finished the non-stop race in 2023 with her father, Peter Walker. And Alex finished the non-stop in 2016, and he and Elle have Stages finishes too. Both are strong, experienced DW crews who should have a good battle to the finish.

Coming in from the Canadian canoe category though, it’s more likely that coveted 2nd place behind Alex / Magnus will go to Mike Thornton and Shirine Voller. Another love boat, Mike and Shirine last raced DW together in 2013, when they finished in 19:11:58 and won the Canadian trophy. Mike has even completed the coveted Double of winning in kayak as well as canoe: in 1993, he won DW overall in 15:57:40. While Mike’s 2025 attempt with Sam Bowen didn’t end as planned, he and Shirine are well set to finish and win the Canadian category this year.

Crew	Club	Time
Alex Lane / Magnus Gregory	Reading / Southampton	2:56:06
Anoushka Freeman / Robert Perry	Richmond	3:37:48
Simon Tilbury-Clarke / Jessica Long	Royal Air Force / Falcon (Oxford)	3:40:41
Mike Thornton / Shirine Voller	Hereford	3:40:52
Alex Bowyer / Eleanor Bowyer	Royal Air Force	3:40:54

Crew	Club	Time
Mike Thornton / Shirine Voller	Hereford	5:35:15
Anoushka Freeman / Robert Perry	Richmond	5:42:51
Simon Tilbury-Clarke / Jessica Long	Royal Air Force / Falcon (Oxford)	6:10:03

Review the full entry list, including for the Stages Race here. Follow the Stages Race on GPS here.

How to watch Devizes to Westminster (DW) 2026

Paddler Media’s live stream will be live at the start in Devizes on Saturday from about 11am local, and live again on Sunday morning from about 5am, following the crews until they finish at Westminster. Watch on YouTube by going to the “Live” section of the Paddler Media channel. The tide window at Teddington this year is 5 am – 7:30 am, with high tide at 5:30. Teams should finish at Westminster between roughly 7:15 – 11:30 am on Easter Sunday.

For the full preview of the top contenders including commentary and insights from Billy Butler, listen to the latest episode of Paddlecast: