Overheard at the Henley Royal Regatta boat tents: What is your rowing career highlight?

HRR plays host to athletes at every stage of their rowing career – here are the moments that stuck with them

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The boating area at Henley Royal Regatta is a wonderful mishmash of famous faces and firm friends to anyone in the rowing community. From Olympic Champions taking on the role of marshals to those just starting out in the sport, everyone has a moment that encapsulated what it meant to them to succeed.

Olympic Champion and Henley Steward Mohamed Sbihi MBE (Moe) has a glittering record of wins, but his racing highlight isn’t on the water.

“Obviously everything I’ve done from a racing standpoint is a highlight, but to be able to be a flagbearer at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in 2021 is something I never expected to be able to do. To get that honour was something I’ll always look back on, to be able to be among the greats of Matt Pinsent, Steve Redgrave and now Helen Glover. That all came because I was talent spotted when I was 15 – it feels like a fairytale.”

Team GB at Sea Forest Waterway, Japan

Looking back on his rowing career, Moe’s first highlight happened in very early days. “I started rowing in May of 2003, by November I won U15 gold at the Great Britain Indoor Rowing Championships. My time was so slow that I was beaten in the competition by categories younger than me. But that was the first moment I tasted success, and it escalated from there. It was when I first thought ‘rowing is a decent sport that I can get involved in!’ I wasn’t amazing then, but it was a small moment in time when I thought I could actually do something in this sport.”

That first taste of victory is always a monumental time for a young rower. For Gemma Peters of Bath University BC, this happened in her first race, just a few months after she was talent spotted for the South West GB Performance Development Academy in 2023. “I started with my doubles partner Emma at the same time. We had the best time training together – there are always ups and downs, but our first race together was Peterborough Regatta. We took home a trophy and it was a great learning experience. It drove my passion for the sport of rowing and even going through injuries, it made me want to pursue the sport as a coach.”

Chloe Sheward of Royal Chester RC is living her career highlight this week. “Yesterday we raced in the Wargrave Challenge Cup. Qualifying meant the first time Royal Chester had a women’s crew racing at Henley Royal Regatta. To come up against a good solid club crew like Worcester RC in the first round was a really good race, a really close race. We came from behind – got through with the win. We’re excited to race today – tough competition but everyone is here to do their best.

“We’re just excited to be here really racing in a women’s club event – we hope there are more opportunities in the future!”

Also living in the moment, Clara O’Doherty is looking forward to her first run up the iconic course tomorrow. “This year I pre-qualified for the Town Challenge Cup with Thames RC. That’s pretty amazing – in a post-Olympic year. We’re going to be racing the GB Rowing Team Four that raced at World Cup Lucerne, so sitting with them on the start line is going to be a highlight! It’s cool to be racing against people who are so amazing and going so fast!”

That being said, her career rowing highlight to date was racing for Edinburgh University BC in 2022 alongside crewmate Emily Davies in the Island Challenge Cup. “We were the first Edinburgh University BC ‘B’ crew to qualify for Henley, then we won our first race,” Emily said. “Making it through to the second round was a highlight. The next year they did it again – this year we have three crews in the Island. It really shaped our women’s rowing programme – we have more crews than the men!”

Wilf Le Brocq was musing over representing GB as an U19 when his friend Dave called from across the press tent: “Don’t worry about that course record we set or anything.”

Wilf and Dave had won the Prince Albert Challenge Cup in 2018 with Imperial College BC. Agreeing with Dave’s choice of highlight, Wilf said; “It is more special to win with people you’ve spent all year with, with international racing usually you jump in a boat and only have a few weeks together. And obviously, I’m still friends with and work with some of my Imperial crewmates now!”

Henley remains firmly ensconced as a career highlight for most who have the opportunity to experience it. Volunteer David Tarbun was marshalling in the boating area when he reflected that his career highlight was finding out that he had a rack to put his boat on in the blue and white striped tents. David raced for Warwick RC in a composite with Evesham RC. “I pre-qualified for the Queen Mum in 2000, which was quite unexpected. We hadn’t won that season, but we’d come second a few times. To park up and hear ‘you’ve got a rack’ – I was on my own and ran back to my crew to tell them. It was amazing.”

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