As the years go by not much changes in the world of rowing, and yet the same events continue to excite us as if they were our new favourite band coming to our hometown or our favourite sports team playing a big match. Henley Women’s Regatta is one of these events, firmly on bucket list of rowers across the UK and overseas too.
Raced over a shorter distance than a usual regatta, HWR is a test of crews’ ability to get to top speed and hold it for as long as possible. This is no more true than in the eights, the fastest boats where top speed is everything. In this event, The Ron Needs Cup for Championship Eights, crews will blast out of the blocks and the crew that is in front after 500m or so will likely win the race.
This year’s entry sees fifteen crews from the UK, Ireland and the USA competing. Fourteen of these will qualify from the time trial, the unlucky last placed crew not getting the opportunity to race in the regatta proper.
University of Pennsylvania
It’s hugely exciting to see one of the powerhouses of American collegiate rowing crossing the pond to compete against the best that Britain has to offer. Penn is fresh from a solid NCAA Championships where their varsity eight placed fourth, six seconds behind the winners, Stanford. The second eight wasn’t quite as successful, placing fourth in the B final of their event.
These two crews look to be almost seat for seat identical to those we see entered for Henley Women’s in this event. The ‘A’ crew in particular will be a huge contender for the win in this event, with Australian U23 international Samantha Morton in the stroke seat and American U23 international Joesphine Konopka in the two seat, this crews lacks nothing in experience at the highest level.
Leander Club
On home water, and regardless of the competition, nothing but the win will satisfy Leander’s ruthlessly high standards. This crew is also stacked with experienced athletes, the likes of Issy Powell, part of GB’s development squad that travelled to compete in the Windermere Cup last year, and Isy Hawes, another GB development athlete, will drive this crew to the top of this competition.
However, at Met Regatta recently Leander were humbled as they were beaten into sixth place in the A final of the Women’s Championship Eights by not one, not two, but three eights from Oxford Brookes, one from Thames RC and one from Durham University. Admittedly, the lanes played a big part in the results at Met, particularly on the Saturday, but Leander will need a better performance to meet their expectations.
Oxford Brookes University BC
Since bringing Hugo Gulliver in from University of London a couple of year’s ago, the Brookes women have begun to dominate the domestic scene in a similar fashion to their men. This is possibly the highest compliment one can give the Brookes women, given they have previously been overshadowed by their men’s squad’s incredible achievements.
With a convincing victory in the first regatta of the year, BUCS, and a dominant display of depth at Met, it’s no surprise to see two crews entered in the Championship Eights category for Henley Women’s. The top crew boasts a number of senior and U23 GB team trialists, with four of this crew competing in the B final of the pairs event at April trials.
Given that astonishing showing at Met, I can see both the crews from Brookes going deep into this event, with the ‘A’ crew being one of the top contenders to win.
Thames RC
The narrative of Thames is rather similar to that of Brookes. Since hiring their current women’s coach, Tom Mapp, Thames has established itself as the place to be for women’s club rowing in London, if not further afield.
Last year, Thames were knocked out in the semi-final by the eventual winners, Brown University. They are without doubt faster this year proven by their recent performance at Met, but it will be no easier than before to take that extra step.
University of London BC
Reflecting again on last year, it was University of London who stood out as the best of the domestic crews, making it to the final where they lost to Brown. They had a an incredibly strong crew last year which enabled them to beat Leander to make it to the final and to later each the Saturday in the Island Challenge Cup at HRR.
This year, they have been firmly second best with Brookes comfortably beating them at both WEHORR and BUCS Regatta. UL did not attend Met, opting to go abroad on training camp instead. They’ll be praying they picked up some speed there to advance as far as they did in this event last year.
Prediction
Other notable entries come from Edinburgh University, Georgetown University, USA, Princeton Lightweights, USA, and University of Galway, Ireland. None of these are likely to be in contention to win, however, with those above making up the five clubs best placed to contend the title.
The draw will be very important, making a strong time trial a must for each of these crews. When it comes down to it on Sunday afternoon, assuming the draw allows, the top two crews are likely to be Penn and Brookes, and just as last year I can see the overall win going abroad.
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