03/07/06

2006 Henley Royal Regatta review

Will Hoodless delighted everyone at Upper Thames Rowing Club with his outstanding performance in the Diamond Sculls. He beat A.R.Ardron of London RC by nearly four lengths in a heat and then on the Friday triumphed over the seeded sculler J.L. Aguirre Barco of Real Circulo Labradores de Sevilla who is Spain’s national champion and who is representing Spain in the World Rowing Championships.

He went on to meet Mahe Drysdale from New Zealand in the semi-final. Drysdale won the gold medal in the World Cup in Poznan in June and is currently World Champion.

After taking an early lead Will was finally rowed down by the world champion to lose by one and three quarter lengths in the second fastest time of the day, equalling the record for the Diamonds for the time to the Barrier.

Will will be seeking selection this weekend to represent England in the Commonwealth Games.

In the Thames Cup, UTRC had a young crew competing on behalf of the club. They had qualified for the regatta in the qualifying races the Friday before, comfortably finishing in the nine top crews allowed to proceed into the regatta.

The crew of Ollie Davies (bow), Tom Davies, Rob Hares, Darren Rhodes, Jamie Smith, Ray Poulter, Ian Ringer, Ed House (stroke) and cox Hannah Read drew one of the seeded crews in the event – London RC A in the first round on Wednesday. It was the first Henley Royal Regatta for Ollie and Ed who were delighted to be representing the club at this level, as was the rest of the crew.

The UTRC crew’s tactics for this difficult race was to pressure London for as long as possible. They subsequently trained very hard on moving off the start quickly in the days leading up to the race itself. Their efforts were rewarded with a terrific start that saw them level with London to the end of Temple Island and maintain the pressure with overlap until about halfway. It was here that London finally drew away – their extra strength and class showing.

The final verdict was two lengths – the closest verdict given to London in the event, with the exception of the final against Tideway Scullers which they also won.

The crew did UTRC proud with not only a spirited performance but with their conduct before, during and after the race. In true sportsmanship they greeted London on the landing stages and shook their hands wishing them well for the rest of the regatta. London reciprocated the gesture and let it slip they had been surprised how quickly the UTRC crew had got off the start! Such a show of sportsmanship in victory from the London crew made the defeat for UTRC a less disappointing experience.

Several of the crew will be going off to university shortly and the club hopes their experiences this year will stand them in good stead for their time at their respective new clubs.

In the Remenham Cup for women’s eights, Becs Sadler and Naomi Ashcroft teamed up with members of Mortlake Anglian and Alpha Boat Club to form a composite crew. They raced hard in the qualifying races but sadly were not quick enough to get through to the regatta itself.