Henley Regatta Semi-Final Saturday

Today (Saturday) crews competed in 43 semi-finals to reach the coveted Sunday finals for the 2023 Henley Royal Regatta races.

In the after tea races yesterday (Friday)… Leander had a mixed fortune with the M4- beating Syracuse University, USA by ¾ length and the JM4x defeating Hereford Cathedral School by 2 lengths.  Oliver Wynne-Griffith & Tom George from Leander in the Men’s Pairs went through the semi-finals by beating Andrews and Ernst from Isis BC by 2¼ lengths.  Unfortunately the ‘B’ crew didn’t get through in the Women’s Quadruple Sculls in the Grace, the Women’s ‘B’ 8+ were defeated by Maple Bay Rowing Club and Rebecca and Kate Mole were beaten by another Maple Bay Crew, USA in the Stonor Double Sculls event by just 3/4 length.

In the opening race of semi-final day, the Leander Club Men’s Quadruple Sculls saw them beat AASR Skøll, by 1 length.  The Women’s composite quadruple sculls crew of Leicester RC & Leander Club also defeated ASR Laga & ASR Nereus from Holland easily by 3¾ lengths.

In the Queen Mother (M4x) the composite crew of Nottingham RC & Leander Club got a by in the semi-final sculling over T.W.R.C. Donauband from Austria due to a withdrawal.

In the Town (W4-) there will be an all Leander Club final with Leander beating USA crew,  Stanford University by just ½ length against Leander Club & Imperial College London (the GB crew of Helen Glover, Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar and Rebecca Shorten) who beat a composite crew of University of London and Leander Club by 2 1/4 lengths.

In the Jubilee (JW4x) both Henley RC and Shiplake College went out of the 2023 Regatta.  Henley were beaten by Wycliffe Junior RC ‘A’ by 1½ lengths and Shiplake College by The Tideway Scullers’ School by 1¾ lengths.  Shiplake College also narrowly lost in the JM8+ (Princess Elizabeth) being beaten by St Paul’s School by 3/4 length.  Gold Medallist Olympian and former Shiplake Viking, Will Satch was seen giving the crew some last bits of advice on the pontoon before the race.

In the two M8+ events Leander Club were defeated by KARZV De Hoop from the Netherlands by just length in the Thames Cup but they beat the Dutch crew of Hollandia Roeiclub by 1 1/2 lengths in the Ladies Cup.

Double Sculls (M2x) John Collins (Leander) and Aidan Thompson from Twickenham won against Wang &  Zhang from Shanghai Jiao Tong University easily.  Ellery and Kleschnev from Leander however lost to a Spanish crew of Garcia Pujolar & Conde Romero by 3 lengths.

In the Women’s Pairs (Hambleden) there was an all Leander close semi-final with Rebecca Edwards and Chloe Brew beating Juliette Perry and Amelia Standing by just 3/4 length.

The Leander favourites in the Goblets Men’s Pair, Oliver Wynne-Griffith & Tom George beat Yale University pair Geffen & Beeson by 2½ lengths.

In the semi-final of the Stonor (W2x), Henley Women’s Regatta 2023 winners Katherine George from Leander with her parnter Vwairé Obukohwo from Twickenham RC won against the Dutch pair of Jansen & van Opzeeland from Hollandia Roeiclub easily by 3½ lengths.

In the Remenham (W8+) Leander Club ‘A’ won against University of Texas, by 1½ lengths.

In the late races there are three Leander crews hoping to reach the finals tomorrow…

6.40 Remenham (Open W8+) Maple Bay Rowing Club, CAN vs Leander Club & Marlow RC

7.10 Fawley (JM4x) Leander Club ‘A’ vs The Windsor Boys’ School

7.30 Visitors’ (M4-) Leander Club vs Princeton University, USA