RECORDS tumbled at last weekend’s Henley Women’s Regatta which saw Leander triumph in both the elite coxless pairs and elite double sculls, whilst Henley Rowing Club missed out in the final of the school’s junior quadruple sculls.
Ten of the 29 events competed for over the three day event saw new records created.
The elite eights final produced a clash between USA’s Yale University and Great Britain’s U23 squad which included Leander’s Rachel Jefferies and Vicky Bryant, coxed by Zoe DeToledo. The result was a tight win for Yale by three-quarters of a length in the fastest ever time recorded at the regatta — 4 minutes, 40 seconds over the 1,500m course.
Earlier in the day Jefferies and Bryant got their hands on silverware as they won the The Redgrave Trophy for elite coxless pairs beating Edinburgh University BC by half a length. Earlier in the day Edinburgh knocked out the Henley RC pair of Rose Bosnell and Amanda Hines.
In the final of the elite double sculls, a composite crew of Maidenhead RC and Corio Bay, Australia, was beaten by three lengths by Leander’s Olympic silver medallist Debbie Flood and lightweight Jane Hall who won gold in the lightweight quadruple sculls at the World Cup in Poznan last year and silver at the 2007 World Championships.
The crew’s semi-final against Dublin’s Old Collegians BC produced a course record for this event on Sunday morning of 5.23. In the other semi-final, the Maidenhead/Corio Bay crew succeeded in knocking out the duo of newly retired Olympian and twice world champion Sarah Winckless and crewmate Victoria Wood of Henley RC, who formed their crew just three weeks ago to raise money for the Huntingdon Disease Association.
Henley RC’s double scull of Rachel Willis and Bethan Thomas again proved themselves to be the fastest club double in the UK, losing narrowly to members of the national development squad, competing as Minerva Bath, in the semi-final, in the process holding them to the smallest winning margin in the event.
Henley RC’s junior quad scull of Abbie Stephens, Gemma Hall, Daisy Colsell and Pippa Whitaker made it to a final of the Bea Langridge Trophy for school junior quadruple sculls having, beaten Tees RC and and City of Oxford in the heats on Saturday. On the Sunday they raced The Episcopal Academy, USA in the semi-final who pushed Henley hard for most of the course but by the 1,000 metre mark Henley opened up some clear water and went on to win by one-and-a-half lengths. In the other semi-final the GB junior composite of Haberdashers Monmouth, Latymer, Durham and ASL met Molesey RC and Leander who they beat by three lengths in a time of 5 minutes, 8 seconds. Henley had it all to do in the final but got off to a shaky start when the umpire dropped his flag despite Whittaker having a raised hand indicating the Henley boat wasn’t straight.
Henley quickly recovered and were still in contact and well positioned in the first 500 metres. The GB composite then put in a huge push in the second 500 metres and went up by over a length and despite repeated attacks by Henley they couldn’t close the gap and the GB composite crossed the line in a time of 5.04 — the fastest in the event. Henley’s junior 16 quad of Amy Fitzgibbon, Georgia Roberts, Hannah Douglas and Charlotte Mills qualified from the first round time trial but were drawn in the next round against the eventual winners from Nottingham RC. The Henley girls had a good race and led Nottingham to the 500 mark but from here the stronger and bigger Nottingham crew pulled away.
Other competitors from Henley RC included Steph Cooke and Alice Bentley in the senior double sculls.
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Published on 29 June 2009
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