Rowing News

HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

30 June - 4 July 2010

Reports and photographs by

Leander press officer Robert Treharne Jones

But there was disappointment for Matt Wells and Marcus Bateman in the Double Sculls, while Pete Reed and his Molesey partner Andy Triggs- Hodge suffered yet another defeat at the hands of the Kiwis in the Silver Goblets.

With the GB men’s eight unexpectedly dispatched from the Grand at the hands of the New Zealanders that left eight crews with Leander athletes on board to contest Finals Day.

First up was the Prince of Wales quad of Dave Read, Phil Turnham, Nick Middleton and Jack Hockley, fighting a tight race against Tideway Scullers A. With just a two foot lead at the Barrier and a quarter length at Fawley, Leander only got away after the Mile, with Scullers holding them to a three-quarter length verdict.

The GB men’s quad scull stroked by Olympic bronze medallist Steve Rowbotham of Leander also included Charles Cousins, Sam Townsend and Bill Lucas of Reading University. The Princeton opposition pushed hard to draw level at the halfway mark before Rowbotham upped the rate and the GB men moved away to a length by the Mile and two lengths at the Finish.

The GB women’s eight which included Leander’s Jo Cook, Lou Reeve and Vicky Thornley were already down by three quarter’s of a length at the first signal, which the Canadian opposition used to full advantage, going on to a two length win.

Then it was the keenly awaited final of the Goblets, with Reed and Triggs-Hodge seeking to exact revenge after last year’s defeat by Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, the New Zealand world champions. The GB men established the early lead but it proved expensive as the Kiwis went for the killer blow at Fawley to open up a five length lead and an easy verdict on the line.

At least Leander were certain of a medal in the final of the Visitors’, in which their heavyweight A crew were drawn against the lightweight Leander/Durham composite. The lightweights, based on last year’s GB Under-23 bronze medal quad, defied the form book by giving away almost four stone a man yet winning the race into a headwind!

Despite two World Cup gold medals at Bled and Munich Matt Wells and Marcus Bateman could not repeat their winning performance at Henley, where the French double of Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain exacted their revenge after their defeat at the Bavarian capital.

Leander’s final medal of the day came in the Princess Grace, where the GB women’s quad which included Annie Vernon, Beth Rodford, Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger, already had a two length lead at the quarter mile, where the race was effectively over.

Leander captain Rick Egington later paid tribute to the athletes efforts at an evening reception at the clubhouse.

“It’s good to see so many winning performances, not only from the established favourites, but also the development squad” he said.

He paid particular tribute to Phil Turnham, a member of the Prince of Wales quad, who had won a Henley medal for the first time after competing in no less than four finals!

Pride of place should have gone to the current GB men's four who became world champions last year in Poland. But with just days to go before Henley Jurgen Grobler pulled the crew out of the Stewards' Challenge Cup to concentrate on their preparation for the crucial third World Cup regatta in Lucerne the following week. Alex Partridge, Rick Egington, Alex Gregory and Matt Langridge had started their 2010 season in fine style with a gold medal at the World Cup regatta in Slovenia, but a lacklustre bronze was the result in Munich three weeks later and, with the World Championships beckoning, a strong performance on the Rotsee was always the higher priority than the chance to compete in front of the home crowd.

But for the remaining Leander athletes among the GB heavyweight team it should be 'business as usual'. In the Grand Challenge Cup the GB men's eight which took another gold on Lake Bled also features three Leander athletes as well as the cox, Phelan Hill. Tom Wilkinson, James Orme and Tom Broadway feature in the line-up which also includes veteran Greg Searle, the 38 year old Molesey athlete who won the gold medal in coxed pairs at the Barcelona Olympics.

Leander's Matt Wells and Marcus Bateman, the so-called 'Red Express' after their flaming locks, are the current GB pairing who also triumphed over the opposition in Slovenia and are now hot favourites for the Double Sculls Challenge Cup.

Olympic bronze medallist Steve Rowbotham is included in the GB quad scull which will contest the Queen Mother Challenge Cup, and there are three more Leander athletes - Jo Cook, Lou Reeve and U23 gold medallist Vicky Thornley - in the GB women's eight in the Remenham Challenge Cup. Another Olympic medallist, Leander's Anna Watkins, features in the GB women's quad racing in the Princess Grace Challenge Cup.

The Silver Goblets event for men's pairs offers another another chance to see if Leander's Pete Reed and his Molesey partner Andy Triggs-Hodge, can finally overcome their nemesis, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray of New Zealand. The Kiwis won at least year's Regatta and went on to take the world title, but the GB men came within a canvas in Bled and will be keen to use the home water to advantage.

The Princess Royal Challenge Cup makes a welcome return to Henley for Leander's Debbie Flood, who is back in training after taking a year out post-Beijing. But GB's top woman sculler faces fierce opposition from the Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova as well as New Zealand's Emma Twigg.

In the Visitors Challenge Cup for coxless fours Leander will this year be boating three entries. Leander A includes Will Satch and junior world champion Andy Holmes, while the Leander/Durham composite in this event includes experienced lightweights Jono Clegg and Dave Jones, who won the club quads event at last year's Regatta.

There are Leander quads entered for the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup, in which the lead boat features Dave Read and the giant Phil Turnham from last year's crew, together with Nick Middleton and Ray Poulter, Leander B includes Doggett's winner Ross Hunter in the bow seat, together with Bob Hewitt, Jack Hockley and Oli Mahoney. The third entry in this event is a composite with Oxford University - Alex Woods and Tom Harvey have joined forces with Isis man Basil Gruter and lightweight Bodo Schulenberg.

The growth of junior talent at Leander means that their athletes feature in two entries in the Fawley Challenge Cup, in which the Peterborough City composite includes Jacob Sobstyl and Ed Rippon.