6 July: A record twenty-four Leander athletes won medals at this year's Henley, where the club won five trophies, including the Ladies', the Thames and the Diamonds.

On a Finals Day marked by storms which caused an unprecedented postponement of racing in mid-afternoon Leander once again reigned supreme, winning three trophies outright and taking part in two more winning composite crews.

Leander recorded their first win when Jane Hall stroked the GB lightweight quad, competing as Wallingford/Reading University, in the final of the Princess Grace. Henley rules restrict each entry to just two club names, hence no mention of Leander in the crew. The Upper Thames composite, stroked by former GB lightweight and Leander athlete Antonia van Deventer, proved no match for Jane's crew which steadily drew ahead to win by an easy verdict.

Club supporters had to wait until after lunch for the next Leander final, when our Thames Cup drew the much-fancied Tideway Scullers, a crew which included GB indoor champion Graham Benton. In the closest race of the day, where the margin between the crews was never more than half a length, a final surge by Leander saw them cross the line just a canvas ahead.

But then the rains came, heralded by gale force winds and lightning which had spectators diving for cover as a squall blew in from the south-west. For safety reasons the athletes were called off the water at the start, where a log jam of launches developed and racing was postponed for 45 minutes to allow the storm to subside.

When racing resumed it was the turn of the GB lightweight men's quad, rowing as Leander/London, to try and wrest the Prince of Wales Cup from the Californian opposition. But despite the pedigree of the British quad the Americans' weight advantage proved too great and they crossed the line more than a length clear.

Leander supported didn't have to wait long for further success to redeem the lightweights' defeat. In the very next race our Ladies' Plate eight made short work of the students from Okeanos and Laga, but the Dutchmen put up a fight all the way to the line, maintaining the overlap and going down by just 2/3 length.

Leander were sure to win the Remenham, in which both finallists featured our athletes, but it was the Wallingford/Leander composite - the selected eight for the European championships in September, which won the day ahead of the Furnivall/Leander composite. The Furnivall crew were coached by Andy Holmes, making a welcome return to rowing, the sport in which he won Olympic gold medal for Britain in 1984 and '88. But the Wallingford crew, which coach Nick Strange had to reshuffle after two of his athletes were called up as Olympic spares, led from the outset, taking the trophy by three lengths.

The final victory of the day came when Ian Lawson became the first Leander athlete to win the Diamonds since Rory Henderson achieved this feat in 1992. Ireland's Sean Jacob proved no match for Lawson, who took a 3/4 length lead at the top of the Island and was able to cruise to an easy verdict.

5 July: Leander will this year contest six Henley finals after a semifinals day plagued by a blustery headwind which made for difficult racing conditions down the Henley course.

The biggest disappointment of the day came when the Leander Grand eight went down at the hands of the Canadian under-23 crew. Despite a spirited challenge up the Enclosures Leander had already been a length down and lost out by just a canvas.

But there was success for our Ladies Plate eight (pictured right), as well as our Thames Cup crew, and with Leander athletes in both winning semifinallists in the Remenham the club is assured of at least one trophy tomorrow!

In the sculling events Ian Lawson missed his chance at of two Henley wins after he and doubles partner Ross Hunt went out of the Double Sculls but Lawson had a straightforward win in the Diamonds to meet Ireland's Sean Jacobs in tomorrow's final.

Jane Hall stroked the GB lightweight quad to another win, but Jonno Clegg in the Borlase/Leander composite recorded a dead-heat in the semifinal of the Fawley and in the re-row it was Peterborough/Nottingham who clinched it.

4 July: Leander's Louisa Rowbotham featured in the opening round of the Princess Royal but went down by 1 1/2 lengths to ex-GB international Jo Hammond, who now represents Belgium. But after the Leander 'B' crew were disqualified in the Visitors the results were brighter as the Borlase/Leander composite beat the Argentinians from Tigre in the Fawley, and then Ian Lawson and Ross Hunter made short work of the opposition in their opening round of the Double Sculls.

Emma Windham waved the flag for Leander when the Furnivall composite coached by Andy Holmes won their heat of the Remenham. Jane Hall stroked the GB lightweight quad to victory in the Princess Grace, but then the Leander 'A' four in the Visitors came unstuck after hitting the booms, going down by two lengths against London. Then it was the turn of the GB men's lightweight quad to assert their dominance over Newcastle University, before the Leander Thames eight beat the Germans from Allemania by just over a length.

In the Ladies Plate Leander made short work of the Christ Church/Martyrs composite and then, in the tightest race of the day, the Leander/Henely composite quad (pictured left) were beaten by just one foot by Cardiff in the Prince of Wales. The day finished with two more wins for Leander when Ian Lawson beat Hugh Mackworth-Praed in the Diamonds, and the Remenham eight, with three Leander athletes in the stern, toook an easy verdict over Brookes/Rob Roy.

2 July: Just two Leander crews were in action on the opening day of Henley, when our Thames Cup eight disposed of City of Bristol with ease in their opening heat. Leander led by half a length at the quarter mile and extended their lead to 2 1/2 lengths at Fawley. Aftee the Mile they were able to ease back and coasted home rating 26 to take a two length verdict.

Our Sporting Giants competing as Star and Arrow RC in the Britannia Challenge Cup (pictured left) came up against one of the heaviest crews at the Regatta when they were drawn against the Russians from Dynamo Club. But despite a gutsy performance from our novices the more expereinced Russians, who had a weight advantage of almost two stone a man, moved away to take an easy verdict.

27 June: Despite the absence of fifteen of their top GB internationals at pre-Olympic training camp Leander Club are launching one of their most ambitious programmes for decades at this year’s Henley.

Fifty-five members of the Leander squad, sponsored by Invesco Perpetual, will compete in thirteen of the events at this year's regatta, at which the club will contest all three of the major trophies for men's eights, as well as all of the women's events.

It was the club's resounding success at the Head of the River Race in London last March, in which three of their crews finished among the top 10, including the Head title itself, which set the wheels in motion for an attempt at the triple - the Grand, the Ladies and the Thames Challenge Cups. But, although Leander is a regular winner of the Ladies and the Thames, the Grand is generally the preserve of world class international crews, and Leander hasn't won that particular trophy as a non-composite crew since 1953.

The Leander Grand VIII includes a wealth of talent, among them former world champion Toby Garbett, as well as Tom Wilkinson and Charlie Burton, who last year won the bronze medal at the World Under-23 championships in Strathclyde.

The crew which will contest the Ladies Plate includes a number of former Henley winners, among them four of the crew which won last year's Thames Cup.

In the sculling events former GB Olympian Ian Lawson, who competed at the last Games in Athens, will be one of the favoured athletes contesting the Diamonds. But Lawson will also contest the Double Sculls partnered by former GB lightweight international Ross Hunter.

Among Leander's women athletes former world champion Jane Hall is back in the GB lightweight women's quad, the crew in which she won a silver medal at last year's world championships. Her crew will contest the Princess Grace Challenge Cup at Henley as part of their preparation for this year's world championships next month in Austria.

Jo Cook, Vicki Myers and Rachel Loveridge will compete in a Leander/Wallingford composite eight in the Remenham Challenge Cup in which their crew will be coxed be one of the latest arrivals at Leander, Rebecca Dowbiggin, who has steered the Cambridge crew in the Boat Race in the last two years.

A key part of the Leander development group has been those athletes taking part in the Sporting Giants programme, developed to identify Olympians of the future. Training only at weekends these athletes have only been rowing at Leander since October and four of them will make their first appearance at Henley rowing as Star and Arrow Club in the Britannia Challenge Cup.

LEANDER CREWS at HRR 2008

(Composite crews include only the names of Leander athletes)

ENDS