On the weekend of 17th-19th June, Cantabs’ Senior Women’s Squad sent 3 crews to Henley Women’s Regatta. HWR is the premier regatta for women’s racing in the UK, and crews from overseas regularly participate in this prestigious event.
Intermediate Club 4+: Maddie Koesterman, Hana Lango Allen, Clare Hall, Manon Gayda-Limousis and cox Will Miller
With the standard of HWR increasing every year, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for smaller clubs such as Cantabs to get their crews through the time trials unless they are their priority boats. So it was a big ask for this crew, with 29 crews in the time trial fighting it out for just 16 places to proceed through to the knock-out stages.
After only spending a few short weeks together, the crew were unable to qualify after time trials which saw several of the leading crews finishing faster than some of those trying to qualify for the club 8s competition! Despite not qualifying, the crew took with them some valuable training and racing experience, and were able to hit the Pimms early!
Photo courtesy of Lindsay Hamilton
Senior 1x: Ellie Darlington
If it is hard for clubs to make it through to the knock-out stages when competing against other British clubs, it’s even harder for those in senior categories where international athletes are also able to enter. So, it was in another event with a large entry of 27 crews that Ellie found herself up against a number of athletes who have or will be trialling for their national teams.
Having made it through the qualifiers to the knock-out stages, Ellie was drawn against Katy Wilkinson-Feller, the stand-out winner of the senior singles at the Met, and a prospective U23 triallist. After hitting the buoys off the start in her time trial, Katy didn’t make the same mistake in her first round race. Whilst Ellie had an uncharacteristically poor start, Katy had a blistering start, getting clear water on Ellie before the end of the Island. Katy went on to win the race, and made it to the final, where she was beaten by the Canadian national squad triallist Andrea Proske.
Coach Tom Copeland said, “Given that Ellie had only learned to scull in a single three months ago, the fact that she made it through the time trials was a remarkable achievement.”
Intermediate Club 8+: Jordan Bruce, Georgie Plunkett, Merodie Rose, Lindsey Tate, Claire Nichols, Bailee Stratton, Alex Courage, Georgia Vann + cox Esther Momcilovic
Photo courtesy of Lindsay Hamilton
After a hugely successful winter in which the Senior Women’s Squad recorded a string of wins both locally and nationally, the top crew finished 38th of 320 crews at WEHoRR. With the majority of the crews finishing ahead of the first eight at WEHoRR being ineligible for the intermediate club event at HWR, and after a series of high finishes at Wallingford, Nottingham and Met, there were high hopes for this crew.
Again, with 25 crews going for 16 qualifying spots, the time trial was a closely fought race. The Cantabs crew came 4th overall in the time trials, just 7 seconds behind the leading crew from TSS (the eventual winners), and within 2 seconds of Agecroft and Grosvenor. The crew were also over 10 seconds and 20 seconds ahead of our Cambridge-based competition.
While TSS found themselves in the other half of the draw, the crew were in the same half as both Agecroft and Grosvenor, with whom they had traded places at regattas earlier in the season. In a straightforward first round, in which the crew had clear water on Norwich Rowing Club before the end of the island, and 3 lengths by the barrier, the race commentators said that Cantabs had the “most decisive start” they’d seen, and an exciting race against Agecroft was booked for the next day.
After a strong time trial, Grosvenor’s first two races were a struggle against City of Cambridge and Staines crews, who had posted much slower time trial results. Therefore, if the Cantabs crew could get past Agecroft, then they would be able to get to the final. Unfortunately it was not meant to be – both crews, knowing how close the racing would be, had a tense start. Whilst they were always with, or slightly down on, the much bigger Agecroft crew, Cantabs weren’t able to get in front during the race. With 500m to go, Agecroft had a half-length advantage and found a new gear, taking just under another half length to win in a time of 5:18 – both crews being faster than last year’s winning time for this event.
Photo courtesy of Claire Raisen
Coach Tom Copeland said, “I’m tremendously proud of this crew for their tenacious racing at Henley Women’s. The seeding used to draw the knock-out stages was random, and unfortunately meant that they were unlucky to immediately draw crews who were also in the top 4 qualifiers, rather than being able to demonstrate their speed by progressing further in the competition than crews who were much slower. All 15 athletes from the 3 crews are now looking forward to preparing for the town bumps at the end of July.”
The club would like to thank Dan Janes and CULRC for the kind loan of an 8+ for the regatta.
Also racing: Having raced with Ellie Darlington in the 2- last year at HWR, and recording top 2 finishes in elite events at Met, Ghent International and Nottingham, Myriam Goudet found herself in a pair at Henley once again. Racing with her Cambridge Blue Boat crew mate Hannah Roberts, Myriam beat an OUWBC pair from this year’s Oxford Blue Boat to reach the final. However, in the final they were unable to match the speed of a GB composite crew who a couple of weeks before had been victorious at the prestigious Holland Becker Regatta.
