Henley Finals results/report

Return to Henley IndexReturn to RQ's Web pageThe week:     Starting with the qualifying races on Friday 26th June, Henley dawnedfair with a high cross-tail wind boding well for the breaking of records. The overseas entries were not so much down this year as restricted mostlyto American crews, the Europeans preferring, with Lucerne only one weekafter the finals, to sit Henley out for another year.  Qualifying raceswere particularly tough in the Britannia Cup, where 89 entries had to bereduced to 32 in one day, and several overseas crews of dubious originwere not granted direct admission to the draw.  Several UK clubs did notgain a single appearance after qualifying, to their obviousdisappointment.           On the next day, Saturday, the draw was made.  No real surprises,other than the Washington JV crew not being selected, and only twoselected crews in the PE, from Eton and Hampton, summing up the generaldisappointment of the Stewards in the school standards this year.  OxfordBrookes had been told they could not enter the Thames Cup this year, andso had entered a weak-looking crew in the Temple, then performed a quickswitch-around of as many oarsmen as permitted to strengthen it at theexpense of their Visitors' and Ladies' crews.  Imperial tried the samesort of game, but were hampered by injury, although the resulting IC andQueen's Tower crews in various events looked good on paper.  Lea andLondon both staked high on the Wyfolds, a traditional event for bothclubs, entering three crews apiece.  LRC were rather taken aback to findthat the draw would ensure at least one and probably two all-London racesat early stages.  High-quality show-downs envisaged included the Grand, USvs. GB, Russia (Dinamo) vs. the US in the Queen Mother quad sculls, plusAustralia v. America in the Double Sculls.  Steve Redgrave's possiblyfinal Henley assault (who believes that then?) was to be marked by a pairsand 4+ double, and the Oxbridge crews were represented by CUBC/Mladost inthe Stewards and an Isis 4- of this year's Blues in the Visitors' Cup.       Over the weekend, the weather grew hotter and windier, and as thecrews assembled for the first day of racing, the tension mounted.  TheStewards' Enclosure lawn was blocked off to coaches' bicycles, and crewsbegan to lurk around the island and start, challenging one another toBarrier pieces.  Crew kit appeared in place of moth-eaten favouriteall-in-ones, and the sideways glances began:  coaches eyeing each other'screws up, girlfriends eyeing tall hunky oarsmen up, crews working out whoto trade kit with in a few days' time, everyone eyeing the notice boardfor the first race times.  Final pre-race paddles, early morning and lateevening, picking our way through the bloody-minded cruisers waddlingoblivious along the booms, final practice starts and bursts along thecourse, imagining how it would feel with the opposition along-side.       Suddenly the first day of racing upon us, a day in which a third ofall competing crews would within 7 minutes of hard fighting be out of thecompetition for this year.  Some upsets, some disappointments, someheroics, and a lot of easy victories.  Most of the top crews do notperform on the Wednesday, through selection, byes or small entries.  Etonand Hampton declared war with a records shoot-out, and each breaking onemarker-point and equalling another.  The club events got under way, racesevery 5 minutes, and then it was evening, sunlight golden on the grass andHenley bridge, cars dispersing from Lion Meadow in orderly patient queues,and everyone poring over the first statistics, comparing Barrier times andcalculating race plans for the next day.     Thursday, and a bit more bite in the competition:  the small boats(2-, 2x, 1x, 4x) started to race, and the quality started to emerge in thelarger events.  A few embarrassing "easily" verdicts, lots of crews camethrough from behind to win,  and the wind played silly buggers, comingfrom all over the place and almost totally dying in the evening.  TheStewards refused to remove blazers and got hardness points but no creditfor sympathy.      Friday, and the Women's Sculls started with Silken Laumann and MariaBrandin each equalling a current record in fast but variable conditions. No surprises in the Diamonds equivalent, the initial challengers in thePrince Philip took to the water as a curtain-raiser to the maincompetition, and the Ladies' crews showed off their speed with severalrecord-equalling dashes from various bits of NCRA.  Very good racing, muchof the day, with some very close verdicts.       Saturday morning is the biggest of the regatta.  The Enclosures arechock full of rowing groupies of all varieties, the strawberries andchampagne picnics come out of the Range Rovers in Lion Meadow, and theboat tents are packed with supporters clutching Pimms and orange juice andwishing they were still in the running.  The big events run thequarter-finals during the morning and semis in the evening, and the restdo semi-finals throughout the day.       In the PE, Eton and Hampton stamped their authority on the rest ofthe entry with some more record-equalling rows, the NCRA Ladies' "A" crewblasted through Washington's varsity crew to book their final place, andCUBC/Mladost in the Stewards (including 3 of this year's Blues)embarrassed two Olympic champions and the second GB pair as Molesey/UL towin by a canvas despite a monster Searle push from 3/4 down through theStewards', breaking every single record on the way.  The American doubleslaughtered Leander 2x hopefuls Cracknell and Thatcher with anotherrecord-breaking row, but didn't remove Steve Redgrave's Barrier marker inthat event despite their speed.  Steve and partner Matt Pinsent decided toget half their historic Henley over and done with, and stormed down thecourse against a hapless Gillard and Kettle to demolish their own GobletsFawley record by three seconds (!) and Steve's course record by a monsterTHIRTEEN seconds (!!):  you get the feeling that Steve wants his name inthe programme for a few more years yet.  That course record in the Goblets(2-) is now below the Double Sculls record....By comparison their 4+ rowin the Prince Philip was almost sedate, removing the long-standing Barriermarker by only a second and the more recent Fawley record by just two.       The youngsters showed their mettle, the Durham/Norwich Fawley boys'quad shooting the first two records on their way to the semifinal, andtheir opposition Windsor/Poplar equalling both in booking their finalsplace.  But the most impressive row of the day has to have been that ofImperial College against a strong Goldie crew.  Flat out to the Barrier,they whipped a length off Goldie and then asked the question.  TheCambridge development squad had no real answer, and Imperial fled up thecourse to finish in a whipping 6:06, three seconds inside the Lea's courserecord from 1992 and considerably faster than any other Thames crew in thecompetition.  There are ways in which it is brilliant to be heroes in thelast fifty strokes, but to be that hard over the entire course without asign of flagging is truly incredible and follows a fine tradition ofImperial performance at this regatta.     Finally, Sunday:  in order of racing.  Conditions:  very fast indeedto start with, a tailwind early in the day lifting the flags off theirpoles, and varying only slightly until mid-afternoon, when rain calmed itand the temperature fell.  The first-named crew in each case had the Bucks(far) station, which has a slight disadvantage in most conditions againstthe Berks (towpath) station.  Temple Challenge Cup, noon.Trinity College Dublin vs. Oxford Brookes.Form had Oxford Brookes as favourites, and they showed an early lead,increasing it steadily up the course, showing their experience against agutsy but relatively young TCD crew.  Every record fell, including thecourse time by 2 seconds as Brookes showed their mettle and responded tothe time-challenge of the senior events.  Clever as Sprackley had been tocircumvent the Stewards and enter a strong crew for his favourite event,he may really have blown it this time:  I can't see the club being allowedto enter at all next year.Barrier 1:47!  Fawley 3:01!   finish 6;14!        verdict:  3.25 lengths.Wyfold Challenge Cup, 12:10.Lea "A" vs. UL Tyrian.  A close match this, between two evenly-weighted crews.  UL took the leadto start with, but Lea fought back to level it, and then both sprinted forthe line through the roaring crowds.  As they crossed the line the Leastroke-man's hand went up, and their coach in the umpire's launch punchedthe air in victory.  Barrier 1:57   Fawley 3:18    finish 6:42         verdict:  a canvas.  Prince Philip Challenge Cup, 12:20Not even close, this contest, with Redgrave and Pinsent joining OxfordBlues Laird Reed and Joey Michels in a combination which has alreadyproved itself internationally this season as Leander "A", coxed by anotherBlue, Neil Chugani.  Leander "B" carried one Cambridge Blue (Pooley) andtwo Oxford (Manners and MacLennan) and were coxed by Olympic champion GaryHerbert.  The outcome was certain, the method less so.  Following theirrecord pairs run the previous day, Steve and Matt had obviously got thebug.  Leander "A" moved steadily away from Leander "B" to win by 4lengths, smashing every PP record including their own of the previousday.  I think Steve now holds three, possibly four Barrier records, twoFawley and two course records, one of which will probably not fall foranother decade.  Steve has personally removed a total of 25 seconds fromvarious records this year alone.  With his final Goblets win (below) henow has fifteen Henley medals, breaking Guy Nickalls' run of six in theGoblets by one this year, and fully deserves for an event to be named forhim. It has to be said that the Leander "A" four looked truly awesome asthey finished, technique and power, which I don't usually say about thatlot..!Barrier 1:57!  Fawley 3:17!   finish 6:44!        verdict:  4 lengths.Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup, 12:30Hampton School "A" vs. Eton College.At this point the Enclosures split in two, ancient loyalties rearing theirheads again.  Portly gentlemen in boaters murmuring "have a good one,Eton", young LEH sixth-formers shouting "Go, Hampton" as the crews paddleddown for a warm-up, but in the end the race, close on form, was adisappointment.  Eton went out to an early lead which Hampton could notclose significantly, despite their long finishes and gritted strength.  Asthe cheers swelled near the finish, Eton sat back and relaxed in victory,having broken their own Barrier once more on the way.Barrier 1:48!  Fawley 3:05$   finish 6:25         verdict:  1 length.Double Sculls Challenge Cup, 12:40Tweed Heads/Melbourne University vs. Augusta Training Center.With a stone and a half advantage on their side, the American doubleseemed to have an easy task on hand.  They went out to an early lead andhad increased this to 1.5 lengths by Remenham.  At this point theAustralian double took it up, and notching stroke after powerful strokeinto the water, clawed back the distance.  I was within 200 yards of thefinish and didn't think they would make it, the Americans responding well,but the Australian supermen fought harder still and snatched it within twostrokes of the line to finish a vital two feet up and only one secondoutside the record.  Let's face it, you only need to be ahead for onestroke, providing it is the right one....  A hell of a race.  Barrier 2:00*  Fawley 3:25*   finish 6:58         verdict:  two feet.Britannia Challenge Cup, 12:50.UL vs. Wallingford.The main club fours event, with neither crew significantly beaten in theseason so far, and both improving throughout the week.  UL went out to a1/4 length lead at the 1/4 mile, increasing this proportionally at the 1/2and 3/4 mile markers.  Coming past Remenham and into the enclosures ULlooked composed but Wallingford determined, and the latter began to takethe rating up bit by bit, slowly eating away at the UL lead.  By themiddle of the enclosures UL were in serious trouble, but didn't seem tohave much of a reply, whereas Wallingford, rough but strong, were goingfor glory and nothing was going to stand in their way.  A deserved win.  Barrier 1:59*  Fawley 3:20*   finish 6:54         verdict:  1/3 length.  Queen Mother Challenge Cup, 2:30.Augusta Training Center, USA vs. Dinamo Moscow, Russia.Not really in doubt, this one, with the slightly heavier Americans liftingoff into a slight lead quickly, and moving further through the race.  Thequads looked awesome, smooth machines pounding up the river, the USequalling the previous Barrier record set by the Italians in 1989 and notneared since.  Barrier 1:48$  Fawley 3:03    finish 6:19         verdict:  3/4 length.Diamond Challenge Sculls, 2:45.X. Muller vs. J. Jaanson.World Cup sculls, the final of the third round, and 15 points to thewinner, 13 to the loser.  On form, Jaanson had it, and the defendingchampion was indeed on the receiving end, Jaanson moving slowly out to 2lengths which he never had to give away.  The finishes on the strokes ofthese men have to be seen to be believed, and the view from the riverbankat Henley is one of the best.  With a fast second half, Jaanson finishedonly one second outside Chalupa's old course record.  Barrier 2:09?  Fawley 3:40?   finish 7:24         verdict:  2 lengths.The Grand Challenge Cup, 3:00 pm.San Diego Training Center, USA vs. Leander/Molesey, GB.National squads in contention, the GB eight a new combination of somefamilar faces, with one of the most demented stroke-men in the business(Richard Rogers).  The US eight is a variation on the world champion crew,with stroke and bow into the coxless four, but few other changes.  SeveralGB supporters made their way to the start for this race, surmising that itmight be the best view of the race, but in the end the US eight onlypulled out a short way at the end of the island, which they extendedslowly to Fawley where there was a length in it and a new record.  GreatBritain took up the challenge, and some inspirational racing drew themback in the next half-mile, until their push in the Enclosures brought itback to a defiant 1/3 length.  Not a bad performance from the new Britishline-up, with recently-appointed coach Sean Bowden in good humour at theirunexpectedly close result.  In slowing conditions, a good row by bothboats, and only the second under 6 minutes ever, the Hansa Dortmund(German national eight of 1989) record standing at 5:58.  Barrier 1:43$  Fawley 2:53!   finish 5:59         verdict:  1/3 length.  Stewards' Challenge Cup, 3:15.CUBC/Mladost vs. College Boat Club, USA.US lightweights against Cambridge heavyweights with a strong Croatianinfluence.  Not really a difficult race for the Cambridge guys, and slowtimes:  I didn't get the markers.  CUBC stake their claim early on nextyear's Boat Race, methinks.  Finish 6:31                                       verdict:  2.25 lengths.Ladies' Challenge Plate, 3:30.Princeton University, USA vs. Notts County Rowing Association "A".The Notts County heavyweights think they can give the GB squad eight a runfor their money, and are probably on for it, removing the Princeton eightwith speed, at 3/4 length by the Barrier and 2 by Fawley.  Both crewssprinted for the finish, but the outcome was never in doubt.Barrier 1:45   Fawley 2:57    finish 6:05         verdict:  3 lengths.Women's Single Sculls, 3:45.Silken Laumann, Canada vs. Maria Brandin, Sweden.Brandin was in record-breaking mood again, chopping another three secondsoff her own time over the full mile and 550 yards.  Laumann pressed ashard as she could, but the fifteen World Cup points belonged to the13-stone Swede, and she made sure of her verdict in the last of thetail-wind.  Barrier 2:18!  Fawley 3:55    finish 8:06!        verdict:  4.75 lengths.Visitors' Challenge Cup, 5:00.UL versus Isis.A canny UL crew against a much heavier crew of Oxford Blues, and the Isiscrew took a slight lead at the end of the island which they increased downthe course.  Slow times, and a predictable race, Isis never conceding thelead.Barrier 1:58   Fawley 3:20    finish 6:56         verdict:  3/4 length.Thames Challenge Cup, 5:15.University of Washington, USA (JV's) vs. Imperial College, London.After the excitement of the previous day, when no Thames Cup race wasgiven verdict over 1 length, this final was eagerly awaited.  In the end Ithink it was lost before Washington got on the water, and I think I wouldhave been psyched out to meet that IC crew on the course they had madetheir own the previous day.  UWash, following three hard days of racing,gave away the initial advantage, and IC hammered the point home in style,able to relax a little into the enclosures.  Barrier 1:49    Fawley ??     finish 6:15         verdict:  3/75 lengths.Silver Goblets and Nickalls' Challenge Cup, 5:30.LRC/NCRA (Everington and Partridge) vs. Leander (Redgrave and Pinsent).Half a length on the lightweights by the end of the island, and an easyfarewell row for Steve Redgrave, taking it up over 40 for the final thirtystrokes in a strength demonstration.  Following the row, he and Mattpaddled the Stewards as a victory run, which would not be allowed by manyothers.  Steve's daughter Natalie now has seven Goblets to drink herRibena out of, although Matt is not doing badly with four in hismid-twenties.  Only two questions remain:  what are they going to name forRedgrave, and how is he going to make his inevitable come-back after the1996 Atlanta Olympics?   I can't see him ever giving up while he hasstrength to pull a blade in anger, and his various previous records in theGrand and Stewards' have been broken enough recently to taunt him intohaving another go at each.  The Redgrave Goblets and Nickalls' ChallengeCup sounds a good bet, though.  And Steve will naturally be asked tobecome a Steward as soon as he can be considered to have retired withdignity.  Finish 7:18                                       verdict:  5 lengths.Fawley Challenge Cup, 5:45.Durham Amateur/Norwich vs. Windsor Boys'/Poplar, Blackwall, District.Last race of the day, and I have to confess I didn't stay, as many don't. Not rowed out was the verdict, so we can only assume Durham/Norwich hitthe booms, as Poplar/Blackwall finished in a time of 6:44.  That's it, endof another year.  Now for Lucerne and the national championships, orVeteran's Henley, depending on your preference.  Not a bad year for HRR,despite the technological ineptitude:  the weather was good for spectatorsand (just) bearable for rowers, the north-easterly wind compensating forstifling humidity with a torrent of smashed records.  All on my page by tonight, naturally.Rachel.Oxford.http://users.ox.ac.uk/~quarrell/_________________________________________________we're on our way to Henley, we're on our way to Henley,Ta da dee da, ta da dee da...