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Firsts at Henley Royal Regatta: What it means to race the iconic course

Winning a red box is the dream for many, but making it past Qualifiers is a phenomenal feat in of itself

“Being here is special,” says Finn Gamble, coach of the Leeds Rowing Club crew that qualified for the Fawley Challenge Cup. “It’s taken a lot of hard work, the boys trained hard and at Qualifiers they raced even better.”

For the Leeds Junior Rowing Academy, this was their first time qualifying a crew for Henley Royal Regatta – a momentous occasion that wasn’t lost on everyone who made the long trip from Yorkshire to Berkshire to clap the crew out of their boat tent.

“I’ve been in the sport for 30 years and this was my first time taking a crew through Qualifiers,” said British Rowing Satellite Coach David McNeil. “Seeing what it meant to the family, to the crew and to the club was monumental. To have a new experience like that after three decades in the sport, and seeing what that gives people – it’s incredible.”

“It’s an unbelievable pipe dream that’s come true”

Georgia Haynes racing is racing in the Island Challenge Cup for University of Edinburgh Boat Club – the first development crew to qualify from the University. In a boat for the first time only eight months ago, being able to race at the country’s most famous regatta is incredibly exciting for the whole crew.

 

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“Qualifying was unbelievable. We went in with pretty limited expectations of what it would be like to do a time trial at Henley, but we were really hungry for it, we’ve worked hard all year. The hour and a half wait between finishing our race and finding out if we were going to qualify was pretty treacherous, but there was no feeling like it.”

“It’s been a pretty quick, but unbelievable pipe dream that’s come true.”

Georgia will be tackling her first race tomorrow against the University of St. Andrews.

The Leeds Rowing Club Fawley crew faced Shiplake College Boat Club in Tuesday’s race and lost out by  2 ¼ lengths.

Cath, a parent of one of the crew, said; “they’re feeling very proud, obviously a little disappointed but they‘re the first junior crew to have ever qualified from Leeds Rowing Club. We’re very proud of them, too.”

Head Coach Rob Mackenzie said; “This isn’t just about the four boys, it’s the whole club. We’ve had over 50 seat races this year, countless side by sides from the J15s to the J18s. One of the things we’re trying to accomplish is the whole club working towards one goal.”