Henley crews among medals at Marlow and Reading

LAST weekend saw the younger members of Henley Rowing Club competing at Marlow Town Regatta on Saturday and Reading Amateur Regatta on Sunday, where they picked up 10 and five wins respectively, while there was also success for two of the club’s masters crews.

Many of the finals at Reading were cancelled due to thunderstorms. Marlow, a three-lane 900m downstream course from Bisham Abbey to Higginson Park was held over three divisions which allows for doubling and even trebling up.

The WJ14s had two quads in Division 1, band one, on opposite sides of the draw. They raced well against their opposition to win their heats and then met each other in the final where the quad of Emma Floyd, Scarlett Hyde, Sophie Floyd, Lauren Pollard and cox Oscar McKenzie-Smith triumphed. In band two, the WJ14 quad crew of Roxanne Schoenmakers, Ada Mercade, Freya Kriefman, Petra Franck and cox Agnes Chapman won both their semi and final. This was also Mercade and Franck’s first ever race.

The J14 girls’ octuple in Division 2 won their semi final and final against finalists from National Schools’ Regatta held two weeks earlier. In Division 3 of the J14 girls, it was an all-Henley final in band one of the finals with Scarlett Hyde and Lauren Pollard just pipping their team mates on the line.

The other Henley double in band two lost by one length to Falcon BC after leading for much of the race.

The J15 girls’ eight of Evie Meeks, Martha Dickson, Lillian Graham, Mima Painter, Amelia McDavid, Jemima Butterworth, Charlotte Tong, Molly Hall and cox Till McKenzie Smith beat Surbiton in the heat before beating Marlow in the final.

In Division 2, Molly Hall and Jemima Butterworth won their heat of band one WJ15 double sculls as did Charlotte Tong and Jemima Painter. In the final Tong and Painter triumphed with Hall and Buterworth second with Surbiton in third place.

Division 3 aaw the WJ15 quad of cox Ruby Pegley, Tilly McKenzie-Smith, Florence French, Lilly Clegg and Eden Kent just miss out on a final place to a Surbiton quad who went on to win the event.

For the WJ16 girls, Annie Hunt raced in her single and in a straight final had a comfortable victory against Burway and Great Marlow School.

The boys’ J15 double of Ed Flood and Harry Catlin eased into the final with a win against Marlow and Windsor Boys. In the final they raced Magdalen College School and Falcon RC coming from a length down to win by one and a quarter lengths. The J14 boys of Diego Petrosillo, Oli White, Charlie Green, Max Lutsenko and cox Rares Visiniou won their event, beating Great Marlow and Borlase in the process.

At the other end of the age spectrum the Henley ladies’ masters band F quad of Judy Walker, Victoria Molloy, Julie Norman and Jan Watson won their straight final against Marlow.

On Sunday many of the crews raced again at Reading Amateur Regatta over the 1,000m two-lane course, finishing just above Reading Rowing Club.

The J15 boys’ double of Ed Flood and Harry Catlin lost out in the final to Wallingford. Scullers Felix Richardson and Jonty Stanbridge-Bennett, J15 and J16 respectively, made their finals but a thunderstorm forced the abandonment of the regatta.

Annie Hunt in the girls’ J16 singles also reached the final of her event only for it to be cancelled. The morning saw another all Henley final in WJ14 doubles, after both crews won their semi-finals, with Lauren Pollard and Sophie Floyd narrowly beating Grace Haldane and Agnes Chapman.

The other double of Martha Hart and Ella Butler raced well in their band two final but were beaten by Thames Scullers.

In the afternoon, the WJ14s raced two quads who eased through their semi-final with only one second between them. Again, due to the storms, the regatta was cut short and they didn’t get to race. The J14 boys won their semi-final but again the arrival of the storm caused the final to be cancelled.

The J13 squad had a good morning with every member of the squad picking up a winning medal in their age group.

The boys’ double of Miles Vann and Franco Wallace beat a double from Walbrook Rowing Club by a big margin while the girls’ crew of Francesca Webb, Emily Robinson, Juliet Len and Isabelle Hughes with cox Tilly Parry won in their final beating one of the four crews from Wimbledon High School who had raced each other in earlier heats to get to the final.

The boys’ crew of Dan Blackshaw, James Weeks, Flynn Burrows and Miles Vann, with cox Theo Berry, then went on to beat a strong crew from Cheltenham College by one and three quarter lengths in their final.

For the masters, Helen Turnell and Sarah Girling picked up a win in masters E double sculls.