
Who’s going to win DW 2026? The Devizes to Westminster race preview episode
From Paddlecast by Paddler Media
March 29, 2026 · 1h 5m
About this episode
The episode previews the upcoming DW 2026 race, discussing top crews and their chances for victory.
125 miles (200 km) from a small town in the countryside to the centre of one of the biggest cities in the world. DW 2026 is finally here! The competition will be fierce, with returners and newly formed crews fighting hard for the win. In the race for the overall win, a Top 5 crews have become clear in recent weeks, with an outside chance for a 6th crew. Billy Butler / Jon O'Grady finished 2nd in 2024, and 3rd in 2025, and they're betting on third time lucky to finally take their first win together this year (Billy has a previous win with Jim King from 2017). Their biggest rivals will be Alex Lane / Magnus Gregory, both former international marathon paddlers who've shown that they're the crew to beat based on their results at this year's Newbury Canoe Club Waterside Series. Alex was the second woman to win DW outright when she finished first with Dan Seaford in 2019, and she also holds the overall women's race record since 2017 with Kat Burbeck (Wilson). George Durden and James Walkinton finished 1st and 2nd in K1 at the 2025 DW Stages race last year, and decided to hop into the same boat this year to make their bid at a podium finish. It will be the first non-stop DW for both of…
People in this episode
Host: Billy
Topics covered
- Devizes to Westminster race
- paddling
- sports competition
Keywords
- DW 2026
- paddlers
- race preview
- competition
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Westminster, Watersides, Spain, UK
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