Henley Rowing Club

Founded 1839

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Poplar Regatta

Henley Rowing Club Junior squad competed at Poplar Regatta last weekend and came away with two Gold medals six silver and three bronze medals. Poplar is a significant regatta for the juniors being an opportunity to compete on a six lane 2000 metre course two weeks prior to the National Schools Regatta. For this reason it attracts all the major competition within travelling distance of its docklands location and gives a good indication of how successful clubs and schools will do at the National Schools.

The first medal of the day came from J14 sculler Amanda Moor competing for the first time in a single scull. Condition throughout the day where not good with a strong wind blowing across and down the course from the adjacent London City Airport favouring those crews sheltered by the dock wall. Amanda sculled well and coped well with the conditions and from a large field of 14 split into two divisions went on win a bronze medal. Hannah Read and Lucy Lewington had a disappointing scull in the J15 double sculls event finishing in Bronze medal position.

The first Gold medal came from the J16 girls quad of Katie Osborn Jones, Gemma McIntosh, Melanie Gilson and Hannah Smith Willis the girls as has become their trait established an early lead which they built on through out the race to finish well clear of second placed Kingston Grammar School.

The second Gold Medal came from David Read who was the only member of the boy’s squad competing at the regatta and who came away with gold and silver medals. The silver medal came in junior sculls in a high quality field of national and international scullers where David pressed the winner from Dulwich College all the way to the line leaving the rest of the field a good three lengths behind. David then moved up to senior level to compete at senior 3 where he comfortably won the title from a large field of 12 experienced club scullers with an excellent display of technical sculling in the difficult conditions.

Whilst the girls J15 quad of Hannah Read, Lucy Lewington, Becci Griffiths and cox Nicola Johnson only won a silver medal being beaten by old rivals St Neots, these two crews where a class above the other crews and from the five hundred metre mark this was always a two horse race. A silver medal also came from the junior girls of Vicky Gilson, Lizzie Gilson, Fran Compton, Sarah Fellowes and cox Nicola Johnson competing in women’s senior 3 coxed four. The girls finished well clear of the three senior women’s crews in the event but where beaten into second place by the junior girls from Lady Eleanor Holles School.

Other medal winners where Louisa Pickworth and Bethan Thomas in double sculls and Kaye Davies in under 15 sculls winning silver medals. In J16 sculls Hannah Smith Willis and Gemma Mcintosh took silver being just beaten by the girls from Headington a result that in fairer conditions one suspects would have most certainly resulted in a win for Henley. In the same event Becci Varley and Kate Osborn Jones took the bronze medal.