Cantabs fielded 4 crews at June’s Henley Women’s Regatta, with the stand-out performance from the Aspirational Club 8+ who made it to the semi-finals.
Photo credit: Allmarkone
After good performances at earlier regattas and a win at WEHORR, the Aspirational Club 8+ raced well to finish 3rd in the time trial. They went on to enjoy victories against Norwich RC in the heats and City of Bristol in the quarter finals, before racing Vesta in the semi-final. Cantabs had faced Vesta in the semis last year, where Cantabs narrowly came out on top, with the 2022 race proving to be yet another close one. Unfortunately this year, Vesta came home with the win, in a closely-fought race where the lead changed throughout the race and saw both Cantabs and Vesta smashing the course record. Thames in the final. Congratulations to former Cantabs athlete Eve Caroe who was in the impressive winning Thames crew.
The junior girls rowed well in a competitive field for the Junior 8+. A crew with just one J18, the remainder being J15-17, they did well against much more experienced opposition, narrowly missing out on qualification for the side-by-side racing from the time trial.
Photo credit: Allmarkone
There was disappointment for the Development 4+ who were enjoying a strong time trial performance, including overtakes, only for one of those to be closely followed by a rogue gust of wind which caused them to hit the booms, ultimately costing them qualification into the main regatta.
The Aspirational 4x raced well considering the minimal preparation time they had, but unfortunately missed out on a qualification spot.
Photo credit: Allmarkone
The Aspirational 8+ now set their sights on qualification for the Wargrave Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta for the 2nd year in a row after being the first ever women’s club crew to qualify for HRR last year.
