Henley Royal Regatta 2023
After the success of 2022, hopes were high that 2023 might be another successful year for the club at Henley Royal Regatta - and so it proved.
A total of 97 athletes in 14 crews qualified for the regatta, across club, intermediate and open events, and come finals day, 31 athletes and five crews were still in the medals hunt.
Of particular note ahead of the Sunday was the incredible achievement to qualify four crews for the Wargrave Challenge Cup. Unfortunately all four ended up on the same side of the draw, setting up Thames A vs Thames D, and Thames B vs Thames C, in the quarter-finals and Thames A vs Thames B in the semi-finals. Saturday marked 50 years to the day since the official admission of women as club members, and the two Wargrave crews showed off the progress made in the past half-century in style.
By Sunday, the A crews in the Wargrave, Thames, Britannia, Wyfold and Stewards Challenge Cups were all still racing. The Stewards crew, invited to race the open fours event to give the GB M4- a bit of competition, were valiant in defeat.
The Wyfold crew were the first to take to the water, and raced well against a classy London combination. Our neighbours eventually prevailed by 1 1/2 lengths to take their first Henley win in some time, showcasing the depth of rowing on the Embankment.
The Thames Cup was next and the crew left absolutely nothing to chance, dominating Dutch club De Hoop early on and winning by a convincing 3 3/4 lengths.
The club then had to wait until the end of the day for the final two races, beginning with the third consecutive Thames vs Leander final in the Wargrave Challenge Cup. The Thames women took the lead by the Barrier and never looked back, crossing the line two lengths up.
Finally, the Britannia crew powered away to another 3 3/4 length victory against Molesey, making 2023 one of the best years in the club’s history at Henley, and testament to the hard work put in by all athletes over the course of the year.
