Cantabs put in a club record entry of 5 crews to this year's Henley Masters Regatta, with appearances in the finals of the Women's Masters B 1x and Women's Masters B 8+.
There were two Cantabs scullers in this year's WMasB1x event, with Charlotte Anderson and ChiYing Chen both taking part. In their quarter finals, Charlotte enjoyed a 3L victory over a sculler from Mortlake, and ChiYing a similar verdict over a sculler from Clydesdale. In the semi-final, Charlotte had a thrilling race against Bewl Bridge, where she won with a verdict of 3 feet. ChiYing raced the eventual winner from Upton RC in her semi-final, losing by 3 lengths, before Charlotte got her turn in the final. Congratulations to both Charlotte and ChiYing for great results in their first Henley Masters!
The Women's MasB 8+ was contested by a crew of athletes from across the Senior Women's Squad who were able to meet the minimum age criteria. This included athletes who had raced at Henley Royal Regatta and Henley Women's Regatta this year, as well as those who had done neither. In a scratch combination after injuries and covid caused problems in the run-up, the crew were looking forward to their semi-final against Lea Rowing Club. After marshalling at the start, however, they were told that Lea had lost their fin, and so both crews had to paddle the course to the finish so that Lea could repair their boat, before getting back on the water for another try! The delay caused no problems, with the Cantabs crew comfortably winning their semi-final. The final saw them face off against a crew from City of Bristol, with Bristol getting the better of the less-prepared Cantabs crew in the first half of the race, before a push in the last 200m saw Cantabs nearly draw level at the finish but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Congratulations to City of Bristol on a great race!
Also in eights, the Aquaphobes raced in the MasE8+ event, enjoying a good race against Tyne in their semi-final but unfortunately coming up short. Similarly, the Intermediate Women raced well in the W MasB 4+ event, but weren't able to match the speed of Aberdeen BC.
Well done to all crews who took part.
If you're a masters age rower and are interested in rowing at Cantabs, please visit our squad pages for more information to see which squad might best suit your training and racing aspirations.