Kicking off proceedings was our eight with a spirited effort in ‘The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup’ losing by one and a half lengths to the Australian crew from The Scots College. The race was not without controversy as a rogue umbrella strayed on to the course into the path of the opposition, alas not enough to disrupt their rhythm!

Day two saw our quad in action in ‘The Fawley Challenge Cup’ against the German team Frankfurter Rudergesellschaft Germani, where they cruised to a comfortable victory of one and one quarter lengths. Next up were the Norwegian national champions, a team that came 13th at the European Championship a month previous. An astounding effort saw the crew achieve victory once again to reach the semi-final against local rivals, the Henley Rowing Club! Unfortunately facing the British national champions was a step too far with our boys bowing out admirably after an astounding campaign.       

Tom Jost, Head of Rowing, applauded the crews:

“To have two crews prequalify is a huge achievement for us and something we have never done before! This is down to the hard work that the boys have put in, not just the last few months but in a lot of cases, the last few years. We haven’t had many crews qualify to race at the regatta before so to have two boats in one year is something special!”