Race Report: Henley Royal Regatta 2022
With the rowing season back to normality, the boat club has seen enormous successes throughout the season and went into Henley Royal Regatta ready to implement a year of planning, training and preparation. With a record number of 42 athletes and 8 crews including a composite entered, there was a huge amount of excitement across the club to show what the athletes were capable of.
With 8 crews entering qualification, 4 of these pre-qualified for their selected events, leaving the men’s and women’s 2nd 8+s and 2 4+s to kick off racing at qualifiers on the Friday. The 4+s raced well in a strong field of athletes and placed 10th and 11thin their qualifying events. Both 8+s achieved what they set out to do and raced well in the strong headwind and qualified for the regatta, building anticipation for what they and the rest of the crews could do in side-by-side racing in the next week.
2022 saw the first year of the regatta being held across 6 days rather than 5, where side-by-side racing began on the Tuesday with the 2nd Temple 8+ boat setting off against Georgetown University, USA. The boys fought hard against the U.S crew but unfortunately lost by a margin of 2 ¼ lengths.
Later in the evening we saw an exciting Northern derby race as the 1st Temple 8+ boat was up against Newcastle University, with Edinburgh taking the win by ¾ of a length and securing a place in the next round.
Wednesday saw the first races for 3 of our crews, starting with the M4+ in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup up against Sydney University, Australia. With Sydney’s fast start, Edinburgh kept their ground and raced the Australians to the line to win by a margin of 2/3 of a length.
The women’s squad kicked off their side-by-side racing in the Island Challenge Cup in the afternoon, with the 1st Island 8+ racing against the University of Washington, USA. The U.S crew had a strong line up and had a quick start out of the blocks, but Edinburgh tested Washington and raced them right to the line, only losing by 1 ¼ lengths.
The 2nd Island 8+ were also up against Sydney University, Australia, in the evening session. After the Australians got a length up due to their flying start, Edinburgh found their rhythm and rowed through them, pushing right to the line where they came out with a win by 1 length and went through to Thursday racing.
The busy day of racing on the Wednesday came to an end with the 1st Temple 8+ racing against the University of British Colombia, Canada. Edinburgh had a strong race and fought to the line, but were unable to come out on top, losing by a margin of 2 ¼ lengths.
Thursday racing for Edinburgh was kicked off with Dale Flockhart in the Double Sculls challenge cup racing in a composite crew with Oxford Brookes. The double had seen success the previous weekend at the Holland Beker Regatta winning both lightweight and open weight double sculls events, hoping to continue their success at HRR. Flockhart’s double was up against a heavyweight French and Dutch composite, which Flockhart and his doubles partner pushed right to the finish but unfortunately lost by a margin of 1 ¼ lengths.
The M4+ were up against Northern rivals Newcastle University in the second round of the Prince Albert Challenge Cup. Edinburgh refused to give Newcastle an easy race and kept contact with them the entire way down the course but were unfortunate and lost by a margin of ¾ of a length.
The 2nd Island 8+ were the last Edinburgh crew left in the regatta as they raced the University of California, USA in the evening session of the Thursday. California flew off the start, but Edinburgh refused to let them walk away and took some distance back which they then held to the line, losing by 1 ¾ of a length.
With a record number of 42 athletes competing, more than 2 8+s qualifying for the first time and the first time an Edinburgh Women’s crew has progressed through a round at HRR, the achievements throughout the regatta prove the success Edinburgh University Boat Club has had this season, in what has been one of the most successful seasons the boat club has seen.
The regatta has been a fantastic celebration of the sport, athletes and club as a whole and we are hugely excited for next season and the potential EUBC has.
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A perspective from the Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s squad captains.
Women’s squad make history
Edinburgh’s senior women arrived in Henley two and a half weeks before the start of HRR, settling into two houses in the centre with differing host families who had quickly made the athletes feel at home. After many successful races down the regatta course over the Henley Women’s weekend (coming away with a win in Aspirational quads) it was time for a few reshuffles to form a second eight who would join the first eight in the Henley campaign.
With qualifiers on Friday afternoon, the rest of the squad positioned themselves at different points along the bank to cheer on the second eight who managed to secure their spot in one of the few remaining spaces in the Island Challenge Cup. Having an Edinburgh crew race the new student event was a first for the university alongside the fact that eighteen athletes had made it through to side-by-side races! With both crews in, the draw the following day was filled with anticipation, and it was announced that both crews would be facing overseas competition in their first rounds on Wednesday. The first eight came up against some tough competition from Washington University and held their own, losing by just over a length. The evening came and with their teammates clapping them out it was time for the second eight’s turn. They stayed calm under pressure to take a dominant win over Sydney University, meaning they would progress to Thursday’s races, making more Edinburgh history being the first women’s crew to make it through a round at Henley!
Another evening race was on the cards for the second eight on Thursday, as they faced a tough crew from Cal Berkeley, who ended up crossing the finish line first. The whole Henley experience was unforgettable and a great chance for everyone to have the chance to race at an international event. As we departed on Monday morning of the following week, there were already conversations of how good it would be to return next year and see how much progress we can make in the Island event.
Men's biggest squad ever
Going into this years Henley Royal Regatta, the Senior Men’s Squad was proud to have it biggest ever squad fight for qualification over both Marlow Regatta and Henley Qualifiers. Due to successes earlier in the season both our Prince Albert A crew and our Temple A crew prequalified. Therefore, we boated a B crew in each event for qualifiers. Conditions were tough on the course, but both crews put in a good showing, with our Temple B crew qualifying well into the Regatta proper. Unfortunately, it was not to be for our Prince Albert B crew, but as a development crew with members of our beginners program coming through they put in an admirable performance.
As incoming captain for the Senior Men, I could not be prouder of what this squad has achieved this season under Harry Guy’s leadership, and getting 23 athletes through to racing at Henley is a landmark moment for this squad, and for the club as a whole. Combined with the fantastic efforts of our equally successful women’s squad, it is fair to say the club has never been in a better place competitively. The aim is now to make this the standard for a club such as Edinburgh, and as a squad we are very excited for what next season holds.
Our Temple B crew raced hard but were unsuccessful against a very good lightweight 8+ from Georgetown, fresh off a silver medal in the IRA championships. Temple A beat Newcastle A by 3/4 length to advance to Wednesday, but were then beaten by a strong 8+ from the University of British Columbia. The Prince Albert 4+, our top ranked boat, charged through an impressive Sydney University 4+ in the second half of the course to take a close victory over the Australians. They then raced Newcastle University on the Thursday, coming up just short.
