In beautiful sunshine last Friday and Saturday, five of our best crews made their way down to Henley for the prestigious Henley Masters Regatta. While it may not be as big as the Masters Championships in Nottingham, Henley is famous the world over and the regatta is basically a second national championship - with quite a few international crews thrown in for good measure!Winners: WMasE 4+: Karen, Paula, Helen S, Suzanne, cox: Charlotte Watts. Won final by 3 1/2 lengths against Putney Town, time: 4:08
Like all our racing crews this weekend, our E4+ have been training together for months, putting in the hours on the water and on the ergs. Expecting to have a semi-final race against a composite London crew, they scared the opposition off (they scratched) and progressed straight to the final on Saturday afternoon against Putney Town. They had a brilliant race, very ably coxed by Charlotte, and proved that hard work does pay off - winning by 3 1/2 lengths and giving the club an awesome finish to the regatta.
MasE 2-: Rod, Steve L. Lost in quarter final by 1 length to Upper Thames, approximate time: 3:52
Rod and Steve rowed a really good race, pushing Upper Thames all the way. They were disappointed to have been knocked out so early, but later results showed they were unlucky - Upper Thames went on to win and won both their semi-final and final by a lot more than they beat Rod and Steve by! 1 length more speed next year guys and those medals are yours.
WMasC 2x: Jenny, Helen M. Won quarter-final against Bewdley easily, time 4:12. Lost semi-final against Upper Thames by a canvas, approximate time 4:00
After a few years of going out in the first round, Helen and Jenny drew on all their training to put in a masterful performance to smash Bewdley on Friday. On Saturday they faced a much tougher opposition against Upper Thames on their home water, and despite an equally masterful and really impressive performance against a much bigger crew, battling all the way, they just lost out on the line.
WMasC 4+: Heidi, Lou, Jayne, Cath, cox: Chris. Won quarter final against Cantabrigian by 1 1/2 lengths, time 4:01. Lost semi-final against Marlow by 2 1/2 lengths, approximate time: 3:57
Just like our E4+, these ladies have been training hard, including going to Henley Women's Regatta a few weeks ago, so they knew the course well. Despite some nerves they had a powerful race on Friday, steadily pulling away from Cantabrigian throughout the race to win by 1 1/2 lengths. On Saturday they were up against Marlow, who had beaten them at Masters Champs and who they knew would be tough. Despite a gutsy push near the end they could not quite keep up with Marlow, who went on to win the final as well.
WMasC 8+: Heidi, Lou, Jayne, Cath, Helen S, Suzanne, Karen, Paula, cox: Charlotte Watts. Lost semi-final against Upper Thames by 1 length, approximate time: 3:40
Our 8+ was a simple combination of the two fours, giving us a very good crew without impacting too much on the training of the fours themselves. Their opposition in the semi-final was against Upper Thames - almost the same crew our C8+ raced against last year! This year it was a much closer race, with our ladies pushing them all the way and losing by a length. When you consider this was actually a D8+, entered as a C8+ to avoid timing clashes, and add on the age handicap... we can consider it a moral victory :-)