Leander and Upper Thames bag silverware on home waters

THERE was success for both Leander Club and Upper Thames at Henley Women’s Regatta on finals day last Sunday.

In the last race of the three-day event for the championship eights, a composite Leander crew with Durham University and University of London beat Thames Rowing Club A by one-third of a length to claim the Ron Needs Challenge Cup in a time of four minutes and 55 seconds.

The composite eight of Durham’s Anna Grace, University of London’s Georgie Robinson Ranger along with Leander’s Zoe McKellar, Abi Topp, Philippa Emery, Lauren Carey, Katherine George and Phoebe Snowden and cox Erin Kennedy led out of the blocks and showed their power and tenacity in challenging conditions to continue to inch away every stroke. The Thames crew did not give up and mounted a ferocious sprint towards the end of the race but it wasn’t enough.

Speaking after the race, a delighted Kennedy said: “I’ve never won here, so it is pretty exciting to come and to race a final like that. It was really, really exciting.”

In the fours event, last year’s winners Leander progressed to the Sunday final. However, the crew of Jemima Furness, Muryn Greene, Emma Sherwood and Sophie Chumas had to settle for second place as they were unable to match the pace of Molesey.

In the championship single sculls singles, Leander’s Amelia Hempleman-Adams progressed through the early rounds with ease only to meet Upper Thames’s Olympic champion Imogen Grant in the final.

Hempleman-Adams led off the start but the experience of Grant showed through as she was able to hold a higher cruising pace through the middle to secure the George Innes Cup.

Grant had not raced at Henley Women’s Regatta since 2018, and after the race she said: “Being back out on the water’s really special. Racing in Henley is always amazing because you’re so close to the bank, and you can hear the shouts and cheers of everybody on the bank and there was so much support out there this weekend.”

Elsewhere for Upper Thames, the aspirational coxless four of Hannah Hills, Rebecca Moneley, Emily Paul and Hope Kannor made the final for the third consecutive year.

The crew stormed through the early rounds with clear-water wins. In a fiercely contested final, they were narrowly edged out by Thames Rowing Club, finishing just two-and-a-half seconds behind in a nail-biting sprint to the line.

In a record achievement for Upper Thames, a third crew made the finals — the championship pair of Fiona Gammond and Lucy Ryan. The pair delivered a strong performance in challenging headwinds, ultimately finishing behind a powerful University of London crew.

The Upper Thames aspirational eight, featuring Lucy Darke, Alice van Onselen, Brooklyn Fehling, Eleanor Wallis, Carys Pryce, Ella Wandless, Leah Reddy and Francesca Reeves, coxed by Eshaya Lim, put in dominant performances in the heat and quarter-final as they reached the semi-finals where they pushed London Rowing Club all the way, losing out by just over a length.

Joining them in the semis was the aspirational double of Teuntje Tijssen and Naomi Holland who produced a gritty and composed race against a strong U.S.R. Triton crew.

The Upper Thames aspirational quad of Hannah Milnes, Maryse Girgis, Claudia Adams and Charlotte Bishop showed impressive cohesion and technical skill, but despite a strong performance, were beaten in the quarter-final by the eventual finalists.

In a highly competitive championship double, Upper Thames’s Amy Hicken and Bronte Holden also reached the quarter-finals with a brave and committed effort while a second championship double of Robyn Selby Smith and Bibi Colgan put in a powerful time trial in difficult headwind conditions but narrowly missed out on qualifying for the side-by-side racing.

Henley Rowing Club saw all three of their entrants progress from the initial time trial races to compete in the side-by-side racing.

In the Bea Langridge Trophy for junior quads Jess Mack, Issy Hughes, Chloe Hughes and Charlotte Tong beat Oundle School in the first round and then Methodist College RC Belfast in the quarter-final. This set up a semi-final with local rivals Marlow. While Henley got off to a good start they didn’t have the best of rows and Marlow steadily pulled away to win the semi. In the final Marlow were beaten by Wycliffe College who Henley had beaten the previous week in a private match.

Evie Meeks, Molly Hall, Mima Butterworth, Nicolette Pagdin and cox Elise Pindoria had success against Wallingford RC in the first round and then Hinksey Sculling School in the quarter-final but in the semi-final they came up against the eventual winners of the Groton School Challenge Cup for coxed fours, Surbiton High School.

With no events for the under-16s at this year’s regatta the Henley J16s raced in the top Junior event, the Peabody Cup for junior eights. While they progressed to the side-by-side racing they lost out to St Edward’s School.

Of the three Shiplake College crews entered, the coxless quad and eight made it out of the time trials and through to the heats with eight going furthest in the competition by reaching the semi-finals.

The eight, consisting of Ava Lowe, Freya Smith, Alice Knight, Annunciata Ings, Katie Proudlove, Eva Rootkin-Gray, Amelia Westbrook, Alice Dargue, and cox Charlotte Hodgkinson were narrowly beaten by St Edward’s School by one-quarter of a length. The crew had previously beaten Bedford Girls’ School and Lady Eleanor Holles School on the way to the semi-final. The quad of Abby Hutton, Tilly Foreman, Felicity Hudson, Florence Dallas were beaten in the round of 16 by Methodist College Belfast RC.

Speaking at the end of the event, Henley Women’s Regatta chairman Naomi Ashcroft said: “The quality of rowing over all three days has been exceptional and reflects the depth of talent now embedded in women’s rowing. The fiercely contested racing demonstrates how hard-earned an HWR medal is. HWR continues to be a celebration of women’s rowing.

“I’d like to thank our partners, supporters, HWR ambassadors and our many volunteers for all their hard work and commitment in making HWR such a great event.”