Leander Club bag eight trophies in testing finals day conditions

LEANDER Club athletes came away from Sunday’s Henley Royal Regatta finals day with eight trophies — including three for its women’s crews — doubling their tally from last year’s event.

The Henley-based club triumphed in the Princess Grace Cup, Prince of Wales Cup, Queen Mother Cup, Grand Cup, Hambleden Pairs Cup, Town Cup, Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Cup and Fawley Cup on a day that saw crews overcome windy conditions.

Leander’s men’s pairs won the Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Cup, with GB Tokyo bronze medallist Tom George and Ollie Wynne-Griffith defeating Jack Walkey and Joel Cullen, of Rowing Canada, Canada, by one-and-a-half lengths in a time of seven minutes and 36 seconds.

Leander and Leicester Rowing Club composite women’s quad took home the Princess Grace Cup after beating Shawnigan Lake School, Canada.

The composite won the race with an easily verdict in a time of seven minutes and 25 seconds.

Speaking after the race, Becky Wilde, 25, from Fawley who subbed for Lola Anderson as she suffered back pains the previous day, said: “We’re very happy and finally won. I got knocked out of the double on Friday by Canada so it is satisfying that I beat Canada in the end.”

Hannah Scott, 24, from Wargrave, added: “We found it challenging, the wind was very strong, and compared to the lake that we are used to, it was not as simple as it looked. We will enjoy the crowd and enjoy the evening, but our minds are focused on the World Cup next weekend.”

Leander Club retained the Prince of Wales Cup for intermediate men’s quads for the third year running after beating Hollandia Roeiclub from the Netherlands.

At the Barrier mark, Hollandia was ahead by one length but Leander soon drew level then overtook to finish one-and-a-half lengths ahead in a time of six minutes and 45 seconds.

Speaking after the race, Leander’s Miles Devereux, 22, from Duke Street, said: “It was so good to win, especially this cup, it is really competitive internationally, the wind was very strong however, we held our nerve and just kept pushing.

“It was really good and we have trained so hard, it was awesome and what we always train for, it is time to celebrate and get drunk!”

In the Hambleden Pairs Cup for women’s coxless pairs, Rebecca Edwards and Chloe Brew of Leander Club beat Emily Lindberg and Elizabeth Witt, University of London. With a finish time of nine minutes, the Leander women’s pair triumphed by one and three-quarter lengths.

Oxford Brookes University and Leander Club beat Maple Bay Rowing Club, Canada in the Grand Cup, the open event for men’s eights.

The composite Leander crew finished three lengths ahead in six minutes and 21 seconds.

Tom Digby, in bow, has now won his third consecutive Grand Challenge Cup, the only member of the crew to do so.

Digby won with Oxford Brookes in 2021 and two of that crew were in the Oxford Brookes and Leander GB eight that won last year.

The Queen Mother Cup — an open event for men’s quads — was won by a composite of Nottingham Rowing Club and Leander Club, against Akademicki Zwiazek Sportowy Torun and Wloclawskie Towarzystwo Wioslarskie, Poland. This was a close race, with the composite crew just half a length ahead at the finish line, and with a time of six minutes and 36 seconds. In the Town Cup for women’s coxless fours, a composite Leander and Imperial College London crew beat an all-Leander Club crew by four and three-quarter lengths in a time of seven minutes and 38 seconds.

Leander’s Heidi Long, 26, part of the winning compsotite crew from King’s Road, said: “I always love racing at Henley, racing at home is so good, especially after covid it has been such a good crowd.

“It is always challenging racing against our friends, however we have been training in Caversham not in Leander which has been good. It has been so windy today, so managing against the conditions was part of the challenge, this is my eighth regatta, and fifth cup win.”

There was defeat for Leander Club in the Ladies’ Plate for intermediate eights against Oxford Brookes University A.

In a close race, Oxford Brookes University A won by just three feet in a time of six minutes and 12 seconds.

Leander’s George Rossiter, 31, from Woodley said: “The three feet finish distance just makes it so frustrating; they took it on the scruff of the neck which was brave. We left it too late, and ultimately there is one winner. A close margin like that is always hard to take.”

Leander lost out in the Visitors’ Cup for intermediate men’s coxless fours against Oxford Brookes University.

The distance between the two crews was small but Oxford Brookes managed to overtake Leander at the Barrier mark and finish one and three-quarter lengths ahead, with a finishing time of six minutes and 57 seconds.

The Leander crew were overcome with sadness and tears and were comforted by friends and family.

Leander’s coach Ali Brown said: “I think they have only been together a week and just to make the finals was a major achievement. It was testing conditions and we can only congratulate the winning crew.”

 Leander A lost against Maple Bay Rowing Club from Canada in the Remenham Cup, the open event for women’s eights.

Maple Bay were ahead for the duration of the race and at Fawley Leander were one-and-a-half lengths behind. Maple Bay finished one-and-a-quarter length ahead with a finishing time of seven minutes and seven seconds.

Leander’s Emily Ford, 28, from Upton Close said: “It was pretty choppy out there, we didn’t put together our best race.

“We have been trying to fix a few things, however, it was great to race Canada, they are our biggest competition in the world. So, it was exciting, but it was a tough one. Our strategy was to try and employ what we do in training, but that wasn’t enough.”

In the women’s club eights for the Wargrave Cup, Thames Rowing Club A beat Leander Club.

Thames Rowing Club A won by two lengths in a time of seven minutes and 22 seconds.

In the Double Sculls Cup, the open men’s double sculls event, the composite crew of Aidan Thompson and John Collins, Twickenham Rowing Club and Leander Club lost to Aleix Garcia Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero, Club Natació Banyoles and Club Remo do Miño, Spain.

The Leander composite lost by five lengths in a time of seven minutes and 19 seconds.

Another Leander composite crew missed out in the women’s open double sculls for the Stonor Trophy, with Jill Moffatt and Jennifer Casson, Shawnigan Lake School, Canada beating Vwaire Obukohwo and Katherine George, Twickenham Rowing Club and Leander Club.

Twickenham Rowing Club and Leander Club lost by two-and-a-quarter lengths, in a finishing time of eight minutes and 21 seconds.

In the final race of the regatta, Leander Club A won the junior men’s quads event, the Fawley Challenge Cup, against Hinksey Sculling School A. Leander had a good distance from the quarter mile mark, one length ahead of Hinksey, and managed to increase the distance to three lengths ahead. Leander A crew stormed ahead with a three-and-three-quarter length lead in a time of seven minutes and seven seconds.

 Meanwhile, crews from Leander, Henley, Upper Thames, Shiplake College and Reading Blue Coat School all went out in the earlier rounds on the previous days.

On Saturday, Shiplake College was knocked out on the Saturday in the Princess Elizabeth Cup when St Paul’s School beat them by a three-quarter length.

Leander Club went out of the Thames Cup while their women’s B crews were knocked out of the Remenham Cup heats and The Princess Grace Cup heats.

Leander pair, Florence Donald and Daisy Bellamy were defeated in the heats of the Hambleden Pairs. Composite crew Leander Club and Oxford University were unable to get past the heats of the Ladies’ Plate on Friday while Leander Club A failed to make it through to the finals of the Princess Grace Cup. Leander B went out of the Fawley Cup on Thursday.

Shiplake College A and Henley Rowing Club were both knocked out of the Diamond Jubilee Cup on Saturday. Henley lost to Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club A while Shiplake College lost out to The Tideway Scullers’. Earlier in the competition, Henley Rowing Club had knocked out Shiplake College B by two-and-a-half lengths, in a time of seven minutes and 44 seconds.

The semi-finals of the Wyfold Cup saw Upper Thames lose out to Thames Rowing Club A by two-and-a-half lengths.

Upper Thames B lost against Thames Rowing Club D, in the heats of the Wargrave Cup as they went down by two and three-quarter lengths.

Upper Thames faced more losses in the Thames Cup heats, losing against Thames Rowing Club B by one-and-a-half lengths.

In single sculls, Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne, of Upper Thames failed to make it past Thursday in the Princess Royal Cup, missing out on the semi-finals by one length.

In the Wargrave Cup, Upper Thames A lost out to Thames Rowing Club B by three-quarters of a length.

Henley Rowing Club did not make it past Wednesday heats for the Thames Cup while Reading Blue Coat School also went out in the heat stages of the Princess Elizabeth Cup.