Henley Rowing Club

Founded 1839

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National Championships

Henley Rowing Club concluded a succesfull regatta season by adding one Gold two silvers and a bronze medal at last weekends National Championship of Great Britain. The championships where held on the 2000 metre multi lane course at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham and with the exception of a horrendous thunderstorm on Thursday evening which resulted in all pre race training being cancelled the regatta was held in splendid if not slightly to hot conditions for the athletes.

The medal came from the junior girls section of the Club with the bronze coming from the under 14 coxed quad of Natashe De Lange, Georgie Dodwell, Chantel Cummings, Maddie Wheal and cox Sophie Wheal. The medal came after what must have been one of the most exciting races of the regatta with four of the six finalists racing neck and neck for all of 2000 metres with al having the slenderest of leads at some point in the race. On the line it was so close that only the judges could separate the four crews.

Jenny Arnold was the winner of two silver medals the first in under 15 single sculls which as won after a disastrous start which saw her crabbing on the first two strokes leaving her trailing the field at the 250 metre mark. Good sculling saw her pull through the field and into second place by half way and to come within a length of the St Neots girl near the finish but the effort of recovering from the poor start prevented her from getting any closer.

Jennys second medal came in under 16 coxed fours with crew mates Hanna Blair, Natasha Richardson, Emily Derrig and cox Alice Skinner. Results from the eliminating rounds indicated that the girls should be medal contender with opposttion coming from Lea Rowing Club and George Heriots School. This proved to be the case thougn it was only Heriots and Henley who set the pace and left the rest of the field trailing with Heriots finalling proving the stronger to take the Gold and Henley the Silver.

The unluckiest crew of the regatta was the under 16 boys quad Tom Pocock, Drew Ford, Chris Clarke, and Peter Wagner. The boys wher odds on favourite to win the event having beaten all the other entries at recent trials but on Friday evening the boys boat suffered severe damage from an unknown source whilst tied to the centres racks. It was encouraging and Livina Sherriff the boys coach thanks all those Clubs that came forward with offers of lending boats in particular local rivals Walton, but problems of adapting to the steering of a borrowed coxless boat proved to much and boys finished out of the medal postions.

The Gold medal came from the under 18 girls coxless four of Natalie McIntosh, Becci Griffiths, Caitlin Bennett and Lucy Lewington. The four where always expected to do well with three of the girls already having won medals at international regattas and having reached the finals of Henley Womens Regatta this year. Whilst of the finalists Gloucester Rowing Club proved the tougher opposition hanging to the stern of the Henley boat for 1500 metres the pace of the Henley girls was to much for them and they eventual faded to leave the Henley girls clear winners.

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