Regatta of Remembrance

PEACE and remembrance marked this year’s Henley Royal Regatta as servicemen and women from around the world competed for the King’s Cup.

The new trophy commemorated the centenary of the Peace Regatta in 1919, which was staged to mark the previous year’s Armistice and featured several events for armed forces crews only.

Military athletes from the six Allied nations that took part in the original competition — Britain, America, Australia, Canada, France and New Zealand — plus Germany and the Netherlands competed for the new King’s Cup over the last three days of the regatta.

It was the first time that men and women had rowed together at an elite international event.

Sunday’s final was won by the American crew who beat Germany by three-quarters of a length.

Over the previous four days, tens of thousands of people descended on Henley for the 180th annual regatta.

The banks were a sea of colour thanks to women in their summer dresses and men in rowing blazers.

On the water spectators were in all types of boats, from traditional wooden craft to motor cruisers, hired rowing boats and fun vessels.

It was warm and sunny throughout the regatta with temperatures reaching about 25C.

Many spectators on the banks dipped their feet in the water while watching the racing and others had brought  parasols and umbrellas to protect them from the sun or sought out shady areas.

Prime Minister Theresa May attended the regatta with her husband Philip and was shown the Queen’s rowbarge Gloriana by regatta chairman Sir Steve Redgrave.

The couple were also taken on the regatta launch Argonaut to follow one of the races.

Security checks were carried out at the entrances to the boat tent and the enclosures.

On Saturday, the busiest day of the event, dozens of police officers, some of them armed, were on duty.

A high-speed police boat travelled up and down the river.

Other officers patrolled the town centre and the towpath and mounted police were drafted in on Saturday night. Henley Bridge was closed from 9pm to 11pm for the annual fireworks display.

A total of 660 crews, including 159 from overseas, entered the regatta, the largest entry on record, and eight records were broken.

The winners included a Leander and Cambridge University composite crew of Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, David Ambler and Freddie Davidson who won the Visitors’ Challenge Cup and smashed the course record for the event by three seconds.

Leander Club also claimed victories in the Fawley Challenge Cup, the Queen Mother Challenge Cup and the Stewards’ Challenge Cup in a composite with Oxford Brookes.

In the final of the Double Sculls Challenge Cup on Sunday Leander’s John Collins and Agecroft Rowing Club’s Graeme Thomas knocked two seconds off the record set the previous day.

Leander Club were also part of two row-pasts. The first, on Friday, was to mark the 50th anniversary of the club winning the Thames Challenge Cup and the second, on Saturday, marked the 40th anniversary of it winning the event.

The prize-giving ceremony on Sunday began with the King’s Cup being brought into the stewards’ enclosure by four soldiers from the Queen’s Guard.

One guardsman then took the cup into the grandstand and placed it on its base alongside the other trophies. He was followed by Sir Steve and Lt Cdr Pete Reed, a triple Olympic gold medallist, who presented the prizes.

Sir Steve said the regatta had been blessed with good weather.

“It was a little bit too warm last year and we turned it down a couple of degrees and it was first class,” he said.

“This year our broadcast is going to hit one million viewers around the world for the first time, spreading the word to more people about our event and the sport of rowing.”

He also praised the organising team and said rowing around the world wouldn’t happen without its dedicated volunteers.

He introduced Lt Cdr Reed, a Leander athlete who recorded six wins at Henley, saying: “This year I can’t think of anyone better to be our prize-giver. To have a serving military rowing officer is just fantastic.” Lt Cdr Reed, who retired from international rowing last year, said it was an “honour” to present the prizes and said Henley was the “finest and most historic river regatta full stop”.

He added: “Competitors have come from all over the world and in this historic year they have come from the greatest Allied military forces to commemorate the 1919 Royal Henley Peace Regatta.

“At a time when the world was on its knees the rowing community came together to heal wounds and build normality again.

“One hundred years on, the fittest and finest military crews have shown their enduring solidarity in honouring the past by thrilling us with competition this week.  

“Men and women have raced in the same boats for the first time at an elite rowing event in keeping with our forward-thinking defence.

“We thank you, not just for this week and for all of your efforts building up to the King’s Cup, but for the way you serve your country and risk everything to protect our way of life.”

Lt Cdr Reed also congratulated all the winners, saying: “Your achievement is a badge of honour for life and your names will always be on the pages of history of 2019, this historic year for us all.”