London RC braced for redemption rematch in the Thames Challenge Cup

London RC reach the final of the Thames Challenge Cup for the first time since 2006

After heartbreak in last year’s semi-final of the Thames Challenge Cup, London RC have vanquished those demons after a dominant display in their semi-final. Racing against home favourites Leander Club, the men of the Tideway got their bow ball in front at the end of the island and never looked back as they comfortably dispatched Leander.

“The guys held their nerve in the head wind and executed what we’ve been working on for the last few days of being in Henley and all season leading up to this,” said Chief Coach Stu Heap.

“It’s pretty great to be there [in the final] and we’re halfway through what we want to try to achieve today which is getting the four club boats into the final. The Britannia crew did incredibly well against Marlow RC this morning.

“They were qualifying as I was briefing the Thames Cup which was a challenge because there were people in both boats who are very close to each other, it’s been a great morning so far.”

London RC will face last year’s winners Thames RC in tomorrow’s final. Both clubs also won their semi-finals of the Britannia Challenge Cup and the Putney rivalry will reignite once more in 24 hours’ time.

Ahead of that match-up in the Thames Challenge Cup, Heap spoke about the importance of consistency. “[We can expect] more of the same, nothing different to what they’ve done this week. It’s just another race so they just need to execute the race plan and trust in each other.”

Amongst all of the morning’s racing, the finalists of the Prince Albert Challenge Cup were decided. After knocking out all of the overseas competitors, the final four were some of the very best that British student rowing has to offer. The University of Bristol BC were brave in the opening stages of racing, jumping out to an early lead before the tide started to turn around Fawley. UL showed their class and prowess and timed their move to perfection, taking the lead with 500m to go and cruising to a berth in tomorrow’s final.

In the other semi-final, the 2016 and 2017 winners faced off against each other as Edinburgh University BC and Newcastle University BC once again went head-to-head. The Scots blasted out of the blocks and made a decisive move at the Barrier to break clear. A terrific sprint from the Blue Star as they passed the Progress Board was too little too late despite closing the gap from clear water to half a length as they came across the finish line.

It was also a great morning for members of the GB Rowing Team, representing their home clubs at this year’s Regatta. Lauren Henry outclassed Viktorija Senkutė to secure a spot in the final of the Princess Royal Challenge Cup. Henry is one of two scullers from Leicester RC who qualified for this year’s regatta, along with 21-year-old Lizzie Webster. The British Women’s Coxless Four were also in action racing as Leander Club and Reading University BC. The quartet came up against the second of two Dutch crews racing as Hollandia and put together a commanding performance to beat their opposition.

In the Prince Phillip Challenge Trophy, it was business as usual. Defending champions Headington School BC beat St. Edward’s School BC in a rematch of the Peabody Cup final at Henley Women’s Regatta. A win for Headington means that they will face Shiplake College BC who beat Australian school Kinross Wolaroi 40 minutes later. Tomorrow’s final should be a corker as Shiplake, the winners of the National Schools’ Regatta, look to bounce back after a shock defeat to Teddies at HWR.

In the penultimate race before the luncheon interval, it was a Grand performance from Cambridge University Boat Club in the Grand Challenge Cup. Racing Hollandia, they kept overlap with the Dutch for the whole race. Inches being taken and given on every stroke. Pushed all the way to the line, Hollandia stamped their name on a Sunday finals race by just 1/3 of a length.