“One of the best moments we’ve had in recent years.” Marlow and Tideway Scullers shine on day one of Henley Royal Regatta

Under the beating sun, Henley Royal Regatta served up some outstanding racing on day one

Spectators who braved the heat and made the journey to Henley for the morning session of racing were treated to some brilliant encounters. A Henley classic unfolded in the opening round of the Thames Challenge Cup between City of Cambridge RC and the Tideway Scullers School. Despite the men of the Cam leading out for the first mile of the race, Tideway Scullers unleashed a sprint for the ages that broke the Cambridge men in the final third of the race.

“It was all pure trust,” said Malachi Randell, who, in his sixth Henley campaign, was first across the line.

“We had a very similar race at Marlow Regatta last week where we were down off the start. They were faster in the time trial at Marlow so it was definitely up in the air that they could hold us. We just had absolute faith in our rhythm and our middle pace and we sent it. We knew we had that sprint finish that we’ve been working on for the past two, three, four weeks that just goes up and up. Everyone was like, ‘We’ve got this, we’re walking through them.’ At the end of their water and at the beginning of our water we knew we had it.”

Both crews were vocal down the track and Randell and his cox, Sophie Shooter were sure to let their opposition know that they were kicking on through the enclosures.

“They bow-balled us pretty early doors so I was like, ‘I’m waiting, I’m waiting until I can see that little white sphere in the corner of my eye,’ and then I’m screaming down the boat. So, it was called by me and then by our cox, pretty enjoyable stuff.

“We’ve got Thames RC ‘B’ tomorrow but we’ve got a lot of hope and found a lot of speed in two weeks and this is a newly formed crew so we’re excited for what’s to come. We’re going to give it everything we’ve got against Thames RC.”

With eight crews selected by the Stewards to have a bye in the first round, the always oversubscribed Fawley Challenge Cup is consistently one of the most competitive events of the year. This year, neither Marlow Rowing Club, who reached the A-Final at the National Schools’ Regatta nor Leander Club, second place in the B-Final were given the pleasure of a first-round bye.

Instead, onlookers enjoyed one of the great displays of quad sculling, one that Marlow RC Coach Peter Chambers was delighted with.

“It was absolutely brilliant, we knew it was going to be a tough one with Leander. Both boats have been there or thereabouts all year so we knew it was going to close but I’m absolutely delighted for them to do that.

“That’s one of the best moments we’ve had in recent years, really good. It may be Tuesday but it’s good, tough racing with two ‘A’ boats going at it and we’re excited about that.”

Despite their opposition leading them out, Marlow kept their cool and stayed focused all the way down the course. The quartet started to launch their counter-attack around the ½ mile mark and 400m later, their surging momentum gave them the lead which they held throughout the enclosures. It was a push that Chambers was unable to watch in real time as he chose to follow the racing on two wheels rather than from the umpire’s launch.

“I normally follow the first bit to make sure everyone is doing the right sort of thing and I can see it a bit better. Then I normally ring my wife to see how they’re getting on YouTube so that’s my rough plan for following racing,” explained Chambers.

For Marlow, who also has a crew racing in the newly created Bridge Challenge Cup, Thursday is shaping up to be a busy day of racing.

“It’s really exciting, we’ve got a tough day on Thursday. We’ve got two Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup crews, the Fawley boys are now in on Thursday as well, we’ve got a Prince of Wales Quad going really well, the Brit four and a Thames Cup 8 that’s been going great so I’m really excited to see what we can all do.”

Tuesday has been a day for the juniors and three out of the four club events, while tomorrow will see the students enter the fray. One of the most dominant club performances came from London RC in their first race of the Thames Challenge Cup which saw them equal the record to the Barrier and to Fawley, setting them up very well to avenge last year’s semi-final loss.