Henley Rowing Club

Founded 1839

2000/01  Reports

To have a report included e-mail CBroyd@aol.com

Return to Regatta Index 

HENLEY WOMENS REGATTA

Last Weekend was one of Henley Rowing Club’s most successful ever, crews competing at three different Regattas were victorious.

At Henley Women’s Regatta wins were obtained in Junior Double Sculls, Junior Quadruple Sculls, and Open Quadruple Sculls.

The Junior Double Scull of Kirsty Holland and Lucy Mills beat Dame Alice Harpur School, containing one of this countries top junior scullers by 5 lengths in their first heat on Saturday and went on to beat Kings Canterbury ‘B’ in the semi final and Star Club in the final by 5 lengths.

The Junior Quadruple Scull of Kirsty Holland, Louisa Pickworth, Lucy Mills and Juliet Hookey completed a hat trick, with Henley Rowing Club winning this event for the third year in succession. In truth the Quad was never pushed to its full potential and wins over an Evesham/Stratford crew in the first round, York City/St Peters School in the semi final and Wycliffe College in the final were obtained relatively easily.

Following this success the girls will now try to Qualify for the new Womens Quadruple Sculls event at Henley Royal Regatta.

Olympic Silver medallist Miriam Batten sculling for Henley in an Upper Thames/ Henley composite won the Open Quadruple Sculls event and this crew will also go on to the Royal Regatta qualifiers.

MARLOW

In the traditional pre-cursor to Henley Royal Regatta. Henley Men’s Senior One Coxless Four won the ‘Town Cup’ at Marlow Regatta on Saturday, beating crews from Royal Chester, Wallingford, Thames Tradesmen, Bedford, Cambridge 99 and the City of Bristol. The four of David Smelt, Robert Wilson, Mike Jennings and Steve Brown can now look forward to a smooth build up to Henley Royal Regatta as the win should ensure their qualification for the Wyfold Challenge Cup.

THAMES VALLEY PARK & MARLOW

Whilst the older girls competed at Henley Women’s Regatta the younger members of the girls squad competed a little further upstream at the Thames Valley Park Regatta. This is a 500metre sprint regatta on a curved course of three narrow racing lanes which requires steering skills from cox’s and even more so from those competitors in coxless boats. As in previous years this was a successful regatta for the girls who returned with five outright wins.

The club won all three of the double sculling events. Lucy Pratt and Bethan Thomas winning the under 16 event in a straight final against Walton Rowing Club, Reading Rowing Club failing to materialise at the start. Hanna Boyd and Melanie Gilson won the J15 event; these two girls having a busy day as they also competed in the J15 quad and both events had large and strong entries. Kaye Davies and Lucy Lewington also won through a large entry of fifteen clubs to win the J14 double sculls event convincingly.

Kaye and Lucy teamed up with Hanna Smith-Willis, Hanna Read and cox Nicola Johnson to also win the J14 quads. Having seen off Lady Eleanor Holles School and Kingston Grammar School in the early rounds the final against Reading and Kings Canterbury was expected to be very tight. Earlier in the year the Reading crew had beaten the Henley girls in selection time trials for the inter regional regatta this though would be the first time the crews had raced side by side. In the end the three-quarters of a length victory for Henley over the short course was a comfortable margin with the Henley girls increasing their lead every stroke.

The fifth victory of the day came in the J15 single sculls where lightweight Becci Varley put in determined performances in both heats and final where having established an early lead in these races she saw this being reduced by some strong finishing from the opposition which included crews from Reading and St Edwards School.

The recent wins by both the Junior Girls and Senior women sees the Henley Women’s Squad in second place in the Premier Division of the National Rowing League behind top club Thames Rowing Club. The coming weekend will hopefully help to close this gap when the girls will be looking for wins at Reading Town Regatta on Saturday and Egham Regatta on Sunday which will be the final regattas for the girls before they compete at the National Championships at the end of July.

National Veterans

The senior members of Henley Rowing Club had a reasonably successful day, by taking a collection of gold and silver medals, at the Great Britain National Veteran Rowing Championships, which were held at Holme Pierrepoint, the multi-lane rowing course, near Nottingham last weekend. 

There was an outstanding performance by Jenny Wood in a Single Scull in the vet A category (age 27-32 years), who won through a heat to take gold in the final. At the other end of the age categories Karel 'Curly' Braun and Pat Ward took gold in the vet G Pairs. This final itself was a phenomenon in that it comprised of six crews who as vet G rowers have ages between 65-70 years.

Further golds were collected by Mervyn Theaker, John Stoddard, Tim Lincoln and Arnold Cooke

who won both Coxed and Coxless Fours events in the veteran F category (60-65 yrs). The Coxless race was won, in spite of a time handicap, and the Coxed race contained some stiff opposition from the notoriously competitive Notts & Union Rowing Club. Lincoln and Cooke went on, as in their now usual way, to take gold in the vet E Double Sculls (55-60 age group), although opposition was very evident, again in the form of Notts & Union and also from the Llandaff Rowing Club, which nurtures considerable athletes.

The winning vet F Four combination split, with Lincoln and Cooke joining a Tideway Scullers crew and Theaker and Stoddard joining a Derby Rowing Club crew to race in the vet F Eights, with all four Henley rowers again taking medals, as Tideway took gold and Derby took silver in what was a very closely fought race.

The late withdrawal of the Henley vet C Coxless Four (43-50 age group), due to illness and injury, allowed, at the very last minute, the inclusion of the vet C Double Scull of Tom Skinner and Ian Giuliani, who after an ignominious start, which left them almost two lengths down, managed to overcome a pretty strong field, including Notts & Union, but they were unable to overhaul a smooth Peterborough crew, and so Henley had to be satisfied with the silver.

So from a range of veteran categories spanning about forty years, Henley R C crews managed to make a tally of one silver and five gold medals, which would appear to reveal strength in depth (as well as in age) and should form a good foundation for entries for the World Masters in Montreal and the European Masters in France later this year.

Reading Amateur

Weybridge Ladies

The younger contingent of Henley Rowing Club’s junior girls squad had a successful trip to Weybridge Ladies Regatta last weekend returning with outright wins in four events. This was the first regatta this year for the girls to be held on the river and to be two lane side by side. Everything else so far having been held on purpose built multi lane courses. To compensate for the variance in stream and distance between the two lanes the Surrey Station was given a three quarters of a length advantage over the Middlesex station off the start. This proved very daunting to a lot of the younger competitors not used to staggered starts when on the Middlesex station they found themselves already behind before the starter had even dropped his flag.

The Junior 14 squad of Kaye Davies, Hanna Read, Lucy Lewington, Gemma Johnson and cox Nicola Johnson where the most successful of the day winning both the J14 quads and J14 Doubles with both Henley doubles getting to the final. The quad had convincing wins beating Downe House with an easily verdict in the first round a four length victory over Lady Eleanor Holles "B" in the semi Final and then three lengths over Lady Eleanor Holles "A" in the final. The doubles of Kay and Lucy, Henley "A" and Hanna and Gemma, Henley"B" had similarly comfortable victories over crews from Maidenhead, St Georges, Kingston Grammer School, Weybridge Ladies and Molesey Schools Rowing Association to reach an all Henley final won by Henley "A".

The J15 squad where unfortunate to come away from the regatta without any medals though the quad, Becci Varley, Caroline Green, Hanna Boyd, Melanie Gilson and Nicola Johnson winning through to both the final of the quads and Hanna and Melanie to the doubles final. The double beating crews from Maidenhead and Molesey in the heat and semi final before losing to local rivals Upper Thames in the final.

At J16 Rachael Dadds competed in the single sculls and had a very good scull in the final to win by a comfortable margin over Matley from Molesey Schools.

Sarah Fellowes, Fran Compton, Lizzie Gilson and cox Carrina Parry had a busy day competing in Womens Novice fours and Senior three fours where they where joined by Lucy Darke and also in Senior four fours with Vicky Gilson. In novice fours the girls lost their first round race to Marlow "A" by one length Marlow then went on to win the semi final and final with comfortable verdicts. In senior 3 fours the girls lost in the final to the ladies from Walbrook. Victory and a pot did come in Senior 4 fours for the girls where they beat Walbrook in the semi final easily and then Thames in the final by two to three lengths.

The older girls in the squad continue their preparations for Henley Womens Regatta next weekend where they will be competing in Junior quads, Junior Doubles and for the first time in Junior eights. The quad will be hoping to cap what will be, for three of them, their final year of junior rowing with a third victory in this event. The draw promising a third Henley Vs Wycliffe final, giving Henley a distinct psychological advantage having won the last two.

NATIONAL SCHOOLS REGATTA

Henley Rowing Clubs' junior girls squad had a very successful trip to this years National Schools Regatta returning with two gold medals and three silver medals. The National Schools regatta is the premier event for junior rowing in the United Kingdom with racing taking place over two days on the 2000metre six lane international course at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham.
Conditions for Saturday's racing were good with just a gentle head wind but by Sunday this had strengthened and conditions over the first 750 metres of course were very difficult for most of Sunday with the wind also creating some very choppy water.
Lucy Mills and Kirsty Holland took the first Gold Medal with a win in the Championship double sculls to retain the title for a third year. The girls had a comfortable win in their heat and were never really pushed in the final by Wycliffe who finished in second place. The time of 8.27 for the final was nearly a minute slower than the record for the event set by these same girls in 1999.
On Sunday Clare Ansley Watson and Juliet Hookey joined Lucy and Kirsty for the Championship Quad sculls another event where Henley were the existing holders of the title. In the eliminating heat the girls had established a comfortable 8 second lead in the first 500 metres and finished 11 seconds ahead of Lady Eleanor Holles School in second place and 37 seconds ahead of Dame Alice Harpur School in third place. In the final the girls were pushed hard by Headington School to the 1500metre mark but from here the Henley girls put on the pressure to pull away and win by a good three lengths margin for the second gold medal of the championships.
On Saturday Clare and Juliet from the quad had also raced in the Girls coxed four event with Katharine Boothroyd, Kirsty Scott and Tom Huggins, cox. The girls qualified for the final by finishing a comfortable second in their heat behind Bedford High School and ahead of Headington. In the final at the half way stage the girls looked to be losing touch with the leading crews of Bedford and Haberdashers but a determined effort at 1500 metres saw them pull back on Haberdashers. A further push at the 1750 saw them moving away from Haberdashers and closing on Bedford. With not enough water left to close Bedford down the girls had to settle for the silver medal position.

The younger J16 squad came away with two silver medals. In the girls' J16 quad event Bethan Thomas, Lucy Pratt, Louisa Pickworth and Lizzie Gilson in the final were up against old rivals Northwich who they have yet to beat. By the 500 metre mark Northwich had pulled slightly ahead but some gutsy sculling from the Henley girls over the next 500 metres saw them take the lead from Northwich. One of the Henley girls then momentarily lost her blade allowing Northwich back into the lead, which they then maintained. These two crews though were significantly ahead of the other four crews in the race. 

On Saturday the J16 quad had teamed up with Lucy Darke, Vicky Gilson, Becci Varley, Rachael Dadds and cox Carrina Parry to race in the J16 eight's event. The eliminating round saw them have a comfortably win after having established a commanding lead in the first 500 metres. This race pattern looked to be repeating itself in the final when by the 500metres the crew had established a one length lead over Bedford High School who in turn had clear water on the other crews. The second 500 saw Bedford pull back on the Henley girls and by the 1000metre had just nosed ahead. The third 500 remained a tight race with the Henley girls pushing Bedford hard and at 1500metrs Bedford had no more than a canvas lead. Both crews built it up again at the 1750 but Bedford had that little more in reserve and finished a length up leaving Henley in silver medal place who in turn were two lengths up on Lady Eleanor Holles in bronze medal position.
Rachael Dadds also competed in the J16 single sculls and whilst she handled the very difficult conditions on Sunday morning well to get through to the semi finals the strong head wind later in the day favoured the bigger girls and stopped her progressing further.
The J15 girls crews Hanna Boyd, Hanna Read, Becci Varley and Melanie Gilson had a disappointing regatta with neither the double or quad performing as well as they could. The quad making it to the semi finals after a determined fightback in the eliminators saw them come from sixth to third place and the double being  eliminated in the first round.
This was a good regatta for the Henley girls and for the older ones will be their last National Schools where over the last few years they have dominated the sculling events.

Ghent International Regatta

On the hottest weekend of the year a team of eight boys from Henley RC took part in the Belgian International Rowing Championships in Ghent for the fourth successive year. There was a record entry of nearly 1500 crews for the two day regatta with almost half of them British.

On the first day two Henley quads raced in the open junior event. In a field of 22 crews including eight British, the A crew of Rob Friend, David Read, Jonny Smith Willis and Ryan Davies finished in 6^th place, 4 secs out of the medal places with the B quad finishing 14^th. Later in the day two double sculls crews raced in the open junior doubles. Again in a large field of 35, including eight British, David Read and Ryan Davies excelled to finish 4^th, 3 secs off the bronze medal, laying down a marker for the J16 title at the forthcoming National Schools Regatta.

The second day of the regatta, in equally hot conditions but with a slight breeze, saw the Henley squad collect their medals. In the Junior Open Quads the A crew were seeded into the fastest heat with Leander and Windsor Boys School. Off the start Windsor took an immediate lead with Leander 2^nd and Henley 3^rd , well clear of the rest of the field. As Windsor started to draw away Henley pushed Leander and were just under half a length down at the half way point. Over the next 500 metres Leander started to move away with the Henley boys having no answer but coming home strongly to take the Bronze medal 15 secs clear of the 4^th crew. The B crew were drawn in the second heat and led all the way, but with no other crew pushing them were unlucky to finish 5^thoverall, less than 0.1 secs behind the 4^th placed crew.

The second medal came right at the end of the day with Ryan Davies joining Dan Tipney from Marlow in the J16 double sculls. They were slipped off the start by a German double and were unable to counter attack successfully finishing in 2^nd place to take the Silver medal, 7secs behind the winners and 13 secs in front of the bronze medallists.

POPLAR REGATTA

Last weekend the squad travelled to Poplar Regatta to race on the 2000 metre course in the Royal Albert Docks. The girls Junior Quad won again but in their final where pushed hard over the first 1750 metres by Headington School. The J16 quad racing in their own age group this time achieved a convincing win over Molesey. Lucy Mills and Kirsty Holland from the junior quad also competed in Junior Doubles, which in a straight six boat final they won comfortably. A scratch WS3 eight also put on a fine performance to take third place behind St Pauls School and Headington School. Good performances also came from the J15 squad racing over 2000 metres for the first time. Hanna Boyd and Melanie Gilson finished third in their final and second in the quad where they were joined by Becci Varley, Gemma Johnson and cox Nicola Johnson. The WJ14 quad of Kaye Davies, Lucy Lewington ,Becci Griffiths, Hanna Read and cox Nicola Johnson whilst well ahead of the rest of the field finished second behind a very good St Neots crew who look as though they will be difficult to beat this season. The wins put the girls in fourth place in the Women’s Premier Division of the National Rowing League behind Thames RC, Nottingham RC and Grovesnor RC.

WALLINGFORD REGATTA

Wallingford Regatta was held at Dorney Lake (the second visit already there for a regatta this season with more to come). The wins came from the Girls Junior quad of Katharine Boothroyd, Kirsty Holland, Lucy Mills and Juliet Hookey, and Jennifer Woods in women’s senior 3 single sculls. The quad had a relatively easy win in their straight six boat final with the Henley J16 quad finishing in second place who where also well clear of third place Sir William Borlase. In the sculls Jennifer won here heat by two seconds and in a closely fought final beat J McCulloch of Marlow by one second. The WS4 eight finished in the final behind three Oxford Colleges but ahead of Magdalen and Marlow. The WS3 4 Carly Ralph, Lizzie Mann, Fran Compton Sarah Fellowes and cox Carrina Parry raced well in their final to finish second a length down on the Oxford University lightweight women. Caroline Hocking also put in a fine performance in Women’s Elite sculls to finish third in the final.

Henley RC boys kept up their successful record last Sunday when three of the squad represented the Thames West Region in the nationwide Inter-Regional Championships held at Dorney Lake, Eton.