As a result of their silver medal at the National Championships Bethan and Rachel have been selected to represent England at the Home Countries International Regatta

Congratulations to everyone who raced, coached and was involved at Nat Champs this weekend. It was a brilliant performance, with some very exciting races.

Henley Rowing Club medal winning crews:

WJ14 4x+     SILVER

WJ15 4x+     GOLD

OJ16 4+       GOLD

OJ16 4-        SILVER

OJ16 4x       BRONZE

OJ17 1x       GOLD - Tom Hope, although he did race as Maidenhead!!

O 4+            SILVER

OLWt 2-       SILVER

OLWt 1x      BRONZE

WJ 2x          SILVER

WJ 2x racing in W Under23 2x    SILVER

W 2x            SILVER

W 4x            SILVER for Pippa Whittaker racing in the GB Coupe de la Jeunesse boat

W8               GOLD for Pippa Whittaker racing in the GB Coupe de la Jeunesse boat

Egham regatta which celebrated its centenary last Sunday played host to a number of Henley rowing club juniors.  

Held in near perfect conditions the S shaped 650 metre upstream course provided its usual side by side racing drama with collisions, capsizes and closely fought races. In the 1st division the J14 boys Quad of Harry Chapman, Jack Roe, Ben Lock, Seb Opalinski and Emily Barrett as cox defeated the B crew from Windsor Boys School before succumbing by 1/2 length to the A crew from the same school.

Henley RC was represented by 5 crews at Henley Women’s Regatta at the weekend.

The double scull of Rachel Willis and Bethan Thomas again proved themselves to be the fastest club double in the UK losing only narrowly to members of the National development squad, competing as Minerva Bath, in the semi final. In the process holding them to the smallest winning margin in the event.

The pair of Rose Bosnell and Amanda Hines also lost narrowly in the semi final to Edinburgh University who went on to give Leander’s under 23 Internationals a close race in the final.

 It was a busy regatta weekend, with Thames Valley Park also hosting a  regatta focussed on junior rowing and sculling. The weather continued  to be benign, with gentle sun, gentle breeze and gentle fun. Held on  the Dreadnought reach of the Thames at the back of the Orcale business  park in Reading, this is a local event for us, attended by many crews  from across the country, to race over a short course of 500 metres in  a sprint. The day is broken down into six divisions, each running as a  mini regatta, enabling the athletes to race in more than one event,  with certain restrictions. Henley Rowing Club took a full trailer of boats, with boys and girls crews racing across all of the junior age groups.

Some of Henley’s Senior Men’s squad took part in the Marlow Regatta at Dorney with Jack Thmpson winning Intermediate Sculls in the 1000m event and the Coxless Four coming 4^th in Senior Fours. Henley’s Thames Cup Eight used the opportunity to have a 4 day training camp on the Wallingford reach away from the hustle of regattas.

It was a mixed day for Henley Rowing Club at Reading Amateur Regatta this weekend. The weather reutrned to a magnificent English Summer, offering sunshine, gentle breeze and perfect water to race on. Reading Regatta is a traditional regatta, still held on the river Thames, wih side by side racing, two boats at a time, in a true knock out competititon. This appoach is completely different from the multi lane racing that is dominant for most of the season, requiring skill, strong nerves and the ability to get a quick start and hold form to win.