Henley celebrates a vintage regatta
175 years later and the head-to-head format of Henley Royal Regatta still has nothing to beat it in the world of rowing. There was high drama all the way down the course on finals day. A controversial disqualification after a pulsating Wyfold fours contest. A multi-national, scratch pair winning the Goblets and impressive wins for Britain鈥檚 top international crews 鈥 bar one all won. And the squad double of Collins and Walton – on the wrong end of a three-foot verdict against the French lightweights – served up one of the best races that Henley has ever seen in all of those 175 years.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 my plan to make the race such a spectacle,鈥 said an exhausted Jeremie Azou, stroke of the French double. But the breathtaking flair and genuine pace of Azou and his partner, Stany Delayre had helped them hold off every attack that the gritty British double could throw at them all the way down the course. There was never more than half a length between the two doubles. In the end, Azou said: 鈥淚 saw an opportunity with 300m to go and it proved decisive.鈥
In the end, it may be that the draw played a significant role in the result: the French were on the Berkshire station, which produced 14 out of the regatta鈥檚 20 winners. Yet even that stat could not take away from the quality of the Double Sculls Challenge Cup final.
The top-end speed of the lead British boat on display 鈥 the men鈥檚 four – gave their French opponents no chance. Rowing as Molesey and Leander, the crew won the Stewards鈥 Challenge Cup comfortably, despite their giant 鈥榯wo鈥 man, Moe Sbihi feeling under the weather. 鈥淰ery happy to win today, I鈥檓 not feeling 100% so to be able to produce that kind of performance is very good,鈥 explained the Molesey oarsman afterwards.
Both the men鈥檚 quad and eight won impressively. The quad, who had been less impressive in their semi-final, were back on form for their comfortable win over Australia鈥檚 national crew. Meanwhile the GB Rowing Team鈥檚 Chief Men鈥檚 Coach, J眉rgen Grobler鈥檚 reshuffled eight never gave their French opposition a chance in the final of the Grand. That race proved a welcome return to the national team for Oxford University鈥檚 Constantine Louloudis. Afterwards, the Olympic bronze medallist said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to be back in the boat.鈥
There was relief too from the British women鈥檚 quad who beat their under-23 teammates. 鈥淚t was always going to be a difficult race because the U23s are a good crew and we didn鈥檛 underestimate them at all,鈥 said Beth Rodford afterwards. And the British women鈥檚 eight, did well on the less favoured Bucks station to hold Holland鈥檚 national team in a closely fought final of the Remenham Cup. 鈥淲e were always in the lead but never totally confident and, in that last 200 metres, they came back and we threw everything in to keep them off,鈥 said Polly Swann, the Leander and Imperial College鈥檚 鈥榮even鈥 woman afterwards.
Both Olympic champions – Mahe Drysdale from New Zealand and Mirka Knapkova from the Czech Republic – won their two singles titles for the fourth time. But it was the victory of the 鈥楧utch鈥 pair of Steenman and Bahain in the Silver Goblets and Nickalls鈥 Challenge Cup that really caught the eye. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been the weirdest week in my rowing life,鈥 said Steenman, who had only phoned Julien Bahain – his French-Canadian brother-in-law 鈥 the day before the regatta started to substitute for his unwell partner Rogier Blink.
The club and university events were also full of drama. In the Wyfolds, Tideway Scullers and Upper Thames served up a pulsating blade-tip to blade-tip encounter that ended with a clash 鈥 clearly in Scullers鈥 water – metres before the finish. But the Umpire showed the red flag to Scullers for an infringement further down the course.
Remarkably after 51 years, Upper Thames鈥 victory in the Wyfolds was their second of the day. Earlier, their coxed four had beaten Bayer Leverkusen in the Britannia.
There were American wins for the Cal Berkley eight and the Harvard four in the Ladies鈥 and Visitors鈥 respectively. But both Newcastle University鈥檚 coxed four and the Oxford Brookes eight, held off US opposition to win the Prince Albert and Temple events.
As expected, the powerful Leander quad took the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup and the eight from Frankfurter proved too strong for Imperial, who were on the Bucks station.
St Edward鈥檚 school served up a magnificent race from Bucks but a superbly judged sprint from Eton College saw them take the Princess Elizabeth. In the junior sculling events, Gloucester鈥檚 women overcame the loss of three of their sculls in a pre-paddle collision, to beat Marlow. Finally in the last race of the day, Sir William Borlase鈥檚 Grammar School beat the Windsor Boys鈥 School to complete the line of 2014 Henley Royal Regatta winners.
by Martin Cross
Photography by BigBlade
