With the circulation pattern changing last Monday, anticipation for Henley Royal Regatta is starting to build and our squad has been completing their final preparations by racing at Henley Women’s Regatta and Marlow Regatta.
Henley Women’s Regatta gave our women’s squad the chance to test their speeds for the first 1500m of the course and get their first chance at gladiator style racing.
Friday started with a great set of time trials for our sweep boats all progressing through to their first round of racing. Our women’s pair gained a bye into Sunday’s racing where they defeated competition from University college Dublin, then Schuylkill Navy USA to progress to a final against Thames Rowing Club. After a good fight and strong race plan, the pair of Amelia Standing and Juliette Perry raced through to win the Redgrave Challenge Vase for Championship 2-.
Our two women’s eights also had strong racing progressions with the 2nd eight beating off international crews from Southern Methodist University and then faced tough opposition from Oxford Brookes B who unfortunately knocked them out of the regatta.
Our first eight knocked out British crews of Thames B, Durham A, Newcastle A before facing a strong Oxford Brookes A crew in the final which they were unfortunately unable to overhaul.
Racing in the Avril Vellacott Cup for Championship 4-, we had 2 women’s crews. Leander A defeated Molesey B before facing Leander B which had beaten Upper Thames B the previous evening. Leander A progressed and continued to defeat challenges from Oxford Brookes A to meet Molesey A in the final. A great row and outstanding performance meant they came away with the win by a substantial 4 length margin.
Our sculling squad started their racing on Saturday with a strong time trial from all. We had two womens quads and a women’s double. Having progressed through the time trial, the double gained great experience racing Molesey BC despite not being about to overhaul them. Our two quads had great campaigns with Leander A gaining a bye to face Leander B which had beaten Reading University to progress. Leander A continued onto a great final against a composite from the GB performance sculling academy in the Borne Challenge Cup, despite a great race displaying exactly what side by side racing entails, our women’s quad fell short of victory by just a quarter of a length.
With just over a week to go until Henley Royal Regatta our women’s squad is excited to finish off their season having gained invaluable experience throughout the year.
