Henley Royal Regatta 2022 Roundup
This year Leeds Rowing Club had a huge presence at Henley Royal Regatta and had an excellent performance placing ourselves again as the top Yorkshire club for senior and performance rowing.
Men’s Eight - Thames Challenge Cup
Our eight of Lowri Mumford (cox), Andrew Parrish, Ols Lumley, Ross Goodall, Jack Turnham, Sam Moloney, Miguel Lopez Dittmar, Matt Dawson and Mark Tarrant had already pre-qualified for the Thames Challenge Cup, so took the opportunity to spend time down on the Henley stretch preparing for this years regatta. The eight had an excellent row against Agecroft RC on the Wednesday and executed their race plan perfectly. Thursday would see them up against Thames ‘B’ which were one of the top domestic crews this season, unfortunately the outcome was as expected and Thames proved too strong for us. Regardless of the Thursday outcome, this was an excellent performance from the eight equalling the performance of the 2017 crew.
Men’s Single Sculls - Diamond Challenge Sculls
We had two entries in the Diamond Challenge Sculls with both Cory Wilkinson and Dan Jones having to go through the Friday qualifiers. Conditions for qualifiers were very gusty and in a stacked field with only three entries to qualify so this would be a tough ask. Both Cory and Dan rowed really strong and we would see Cory get one of the three qualifier slots and Dan be the fastest non-qualifier. This was Cory’s third attempt to qualify and his hard work and persistence paid off.
Cory would find himself up against the Dutch U23 National Champion, and Cory went out hard, had a technically outstanding race but just fell short, keeping the pressure on the Dutch sculler all the way to the line. We’re very excited for next season to see Cory just get even better!
Men’s Double Sculls - Double Scull Challenge Cup
Despite the result from his attempt at the Diamond Challenge Sculls, Dan was also entered into the Double Sculls Challenge Cup with his doubles partner, Ash Cowley from Newark RC. There was no messing this time and both Dan and Ash took the time trial by the scruff of the neck. Again with only four slots to qualify, they bagged one of the slots meaning we’d qualified all three Leeds boats into Henley!
Their heat would see them up against old friends on and off the water - Alex King and Matt Brigham (formerly of Yorkshire Start and Leeds Uni) from Leander Club. Dan and Ash had raced Alex and Matt at Marlow so this race was a classic with the lightweight Leeds/Newark double going out to rattle the Leander boat. A very well fought race and both Dan and Ash went at it with their usual attacking style. Alex and Matt had a bit more firepower and came out on top.
Women’s Double Sculls - Stonor Challenge Trophy
Our current Leander resident Katie Mole was back in her double with her doubles partner Imogen Magner who she had competed with at Henley Women’s Regatta. The double went through the time trial with ease and as with all things Henley, ended up racing in the first round against the Twickenham/Leander crew which they had lost in the final of Champ 2x at Henley Women’s Regatta to.
Katie and Imogen went off like a rocket and unsettled their opposition, unfortunately like the Henley Women’s Regatta final, this was not going to be Katie and Imogen’s day and they lost out again in another close final.
Katie spent most of her time after qualifying supporting both the eight and helping Cory and Dan with their sculling in preparation for their events, an absolute club hero!
Open Coxless Pairs - Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup
Our soon to be full-time Brookes resident George Bell, was invited to spend some time training with his new club pre-Henley and ended up doing qualifiers in not one but two boats!
George and Phil Nesom (another ex-Yorkshire Start graduate) raced in the Goblets pairs, the international standard pairs event in the regatta. In classic George and Phil style, they attacked the qualifiers and defied the odds to win one of the qualifier spots in the pairs event. Not to be outdone, George would be back on the water for qualifiers again trying to qualify a coxless four in the Visitors Challenge Cup (this time being the fastest non-qualifier).
The guys were drawn on the Thursday against Itchen Imperial and their very experienced pair. An absolutely thrilling race in appalling conditions, the pair went out and attacked Itchen, unfortunately the lack of time in the pair got the better of them and Itchen held a small lead by the end of the race.
For George though, this is just the beginning and we’re looking forward to seeing him in his Oxford Brookes kit next season and seeing him again at Henley.
Overall for the club, this was our most successful Henley ever in terms of club members racing and on par with last years success. We’re now consistently sending crews to Henley Royal Regatta of a high quality mixing in the top events. Thanks go to the coaches this season and also the athletes, club members and supporters who have helped along the way.