Upper Thames bag nine masters regatta wins

HOST club Upper Thames came away with nine wins at the two-day Henley Masters Regatta that concluded last Saturday.

Entries for the event, that began on Friday of last week, had been oversubscribed with more than 1,240 competitors, from 170 clubs and 12 countries taking part.

An electrical storm threatened the smooth running of regatta on Saturday as safety concerns meant racing had to be stopped for an hour-and-three-quarters.

Racing was suspended at 11.30am with all crews, umpire launches, safety boats and volunteers getting off the river.

The storm eventually passed over and after some operational planning racing was able to start again with racing starting against at 1.15pm.

Races at the regatta are usually set off every four minutes from 8am until 6pm to ensure all events are completed before the river opened again to normal and increased Henley Festival river traffic. To meet this challenge races took place every three minutes instead of the usual four meaning the event evemtually finished just half an hour later than planned.

On the water Upper Thames picked up wins in six women’s and three men’s events.

In the women’s events there was wins in the B quadruple sculls, C single sculls, D eights, E coxless fours, B double sculls and E eights while the men triumphed in the F coxless pairs, E coxless fours and D coxed fours.

The first final win of the day for Upper Thames saw the D coxed four crew of Michael Scott, Gareth Morris, Stephen Kelso and John O’Donohue defeat Thames Rowing Club by three-quarters of a length in a time of three minutes and 46 seconds.

Three races later a composite Upper Thames women’s E eight crew of Jo Wilby, Sarah Kell, Susan Brown, louise Wymer, Amanda Bowden, Heather Moon Vogels, Katie Kapernaros, Guin Batten and Rachel Haycock defeated Marlow Rowing Club by three lengths in four minutes and nine seconds. Naomi Holland and Penny Hamand, in the women’s B double sculls then beat Bewl Bridge Rowing Club by one-and-a-half lengths in four minutes and 10 seconds.

Upper Thames crews won two events in a row, as they triumphed in the men’s and women’s E coxless fours.

Stewart Bell, Hugh Mackworth-Praed, John Woodiss-Field and Charles Nelson won the E event, beating Grosvenor Rowing Club, Chester, by three-quarters of a length in three minutes, 34 seconds while Ktie Kapernaros, Louise Wymer, Jo Wilby and Heather Moon Vogels won the women’s event, beating Ardingly Rowing Club by two lengths in four minutes, nine seconds.

Gillian Connal, Emily Lyons, Ailie Ord, Paula Reddy, Suzanne Radley, Sally Pollock-Morris, Amanda Hynes, Rachel Armstrong and Alexander Black saw the women’s D 8 defeat Martin Rowing Association, USA, by two-and-a-half lengths in a time of three minutes, 43 seconds.

Antonia Van Deventer triumphed in the women’s C single sculls against a sculler from Llandaff Rowing Club by two-and-a-half lengths in a time of four minutes, 39 seconds while Naomi Ashcroft, Daisy Hampton, Penny Hamand and Naomi Holland secured the women’s B quadruple sculls after beating a Hexham/Berwick composite crew by three-quarters of a length in a time of three minutes, 54 seconds.

The final Upper Thames win saw Peter Jacobs and Dan Sadler win the F coxless pairs after they defeated Poole Amateur Rowign Club by five lengths in a time of four minutes, 21 seconds.

Henley Rowing Club’s only entry at the regatta saw Helen Turnell and Nikki Orr lost in the final of women’s E double sculls to Eton Excelsior having beaten Walton Rowing Club and then Tideway Scullers’ School in previous rounds.

Olympic gold medalist and world champion Andy Triggs Hodge, Henley deputy mayor Kellie Hinton and Upper Thames Rowing Club president Paul Stuart-Bennett and Catherine McLaughlin presented the prizes.