Henley action for Twickenham crews

 

Crews from Twickenham RC were out in force producing promising results in the Henley regattas over the past month.

First up were the women’s squad, entering two boats at Women’s Henley 19th – 21st June.  Friday saw the qualifiers where only 16 of the 26 entrants could qualify with both crews producing strong results.  The first eight qualified and the second eight, comprising of mainly novice rowers, missed out on qualification by just 7 seconds. 

Saturday saw the first eight take on City of Cambridge in the first round and despite a strong row in a faster time than Friday’s qualifiers, City of Cambridge won by just over two lengths.  However, Twickenham were amongst the fastest eight crews in round one, proving to be unlucky with the draw and showed a great improvement since the Metropolitan Regatta, held just a fortnight previous.

Onto the gladiatorial event of Henley Royal Regatta 1st – 5th July, and Twickenham’s men pre-qualified a Thames Cup eight for the first time in 11 years, meaning that they avoided having to take part in the Friday night qualification time trial.  Drawn against a seeded top four American crew from "Four Score and Four" comprising of Yale University alumni, the crew produced the closest race of the first round, holding Four Score to just a canvas lead until the mile mark where Four Score pulled away to win by just a length.

Having three boats entering Henley events shows the strength in depth and continuous development at the Eel Pie Island-based club.  A veteran double scull will also be racing at Henley Veterans Regatta this weekend (10th/11th July).

Club Captain John Wastnage comments: "Twickenham RC has had a phenomenal year so far.  The dedication of the rowers, coxes and coaching staff and the excellent learn-to-row programmes that the club now offers have enabled the club to compete with the country’s best rowers this season and will continue to do so over the coming months where we are targeting more regattas.  I am especially proud of the men’s first eight – pre-qualifying an eight was an outstanding achievement in itself, but then almost beating one of the favourites from such a prestigious American university was beyond my wildest dreams and one of the guys in the crew only started learning to row with us in September!  2010 is our 150th year and I can’t wait to see the next group of novices join this coming Autumn in time for even greater successes next season".

Report from Twickenham RC