104 Leander athletes competed at this year’s Henley Royal Regatta – 73 athletes competed in the semi-finals and 60 reached finals day. An impressive 23 Leander athletes took home medals.
The first win of the day was the Princess Grace Challenge Cup. This GB women’s quad of Georgie Brayshaw, Hannah Scott, Becky Wilde (replacement on finals day for Lola Anderson who had an injury) and Lauren Henry of Leicester RC, beat Shawnigan Lake, Canada in the final.
The Prince of Wales Challenge Cup is an intermediate men’s quad event and was won by Leander’s development squad athletes, Rowan Law, Oliver Costley, Miles Devereux and Rory Harris coached by club coach Ali Brown. In the final race, the crew beat Hollandia Roeiclub from the Netherlands.
The Town Challenge Cup was won by our Women’s GB 4-. Leander’s Rowan McKellar and Heidi Long were joined by Helen Glover (Marlow RC) and Rebecca Shorten (Imperial College London). This crew won their final, beating Leander Club’s Development squad in the final.
The Queen Mother Challenge Cup for international men’s quads was won by the GB crew of George Bourne and Tom Barras from Leander, Callum Dixon (Twickenham RC) and Mathew Haywood (Nottingham RC) beating Akademicki Zwiazek Sportowy Torun and Wloclawskie Towarzystwo Wioslarskie, Poland in a thrilling final.
The Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup was won by GB and Leander’s Tom George and Ollie Wynne-Griffith beating J Walkey and J Cullen from Rowing Canada in the final.
The Grand Challenge Cup was won by the GB 8+ containing four Leander athletes, Sholto Carnegie, Jacob Dawson, Will Stewart and Tom Ford rowing with James Rudkin (Newcastle Uni) Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding and Tom Digby (Brookes). In the final, this crew beat Maple Bay Rowing Club from Canada.
The Hambleden Pairs Challenge Cup was won by Leander’s Chloe Brew and Rebecca Edwards beating EM Lindberg and EC Witt, University of London and Imperial College London in the final.
Finally to top off a fantastic day, Leander junior quad of Guy Hutchins, Nat Gauden, Byron Richards and Freddie Foxwell coached by Leander’s junior coach Jonny Jackson, won The Fawley Challenge Cup beating Hinksey Sculling School in the final.
Leander were also in the following finals but unfortunately finished runners up to some impressive crews: the Ladies Plate (3 feet), the Wargrave, the Double Scull, the Stonor and the Remenham.
We would like to thank the members for their continued support of the Leander program and The Colgan Foundation and Digby Fine English for their sponsorship of and partnership with Leander Club.
Thank you to John Preston for the photos, more to come.
