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Christian of Phoenix Boat Club after racing in Friday’s Silver Goblets.
15 August 2021
By Tim Koch
Tim Koch ignores social distancing and combines his Friday and Saturday images from Henley into one “Faterday” piece.
Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan (Skibbereen Rowing Club and University College, Cork, Ireland).
Both on and off the water, McCarthy and O’Donovan are proving as popular a double act as was O’Donovan and O’Donovan. An official press release puts it well:
(On Saturday) McCarthy and O’Donovan… who won gold in the lightweight men’s doubles sculls in Tokyo, did what they needed to do again to make the final, beating Jamie Copus and Quentin Antognelli (Oxford Brookes University), but admitted they are still getting to grips with the unique nuances of the 2,112-metre course at Henley-on-Thames.
“Yes, we had an interesting race, with Fintan doing a bit of a triathlon – fishing, swimming and rowing,” O’Donovan said. “And then Brookes had an excellent start, but then Fintan set his eyes on rowing again and laid down the power there thankfully.”
“When I raced with my brother (at Henley in 2018), we made the finals at the double sculls and unfortunately we got knocked out on the Sunday which was really very silly of us. If we had known that was going to happen, we would have probably got knocked out on the Friday maybe to enjoy the event a bit better,” O’Donovan said.
“Fintan, it’s his first time, and he’s really naïve and wanted to go training here. I told him, this is not the type of regatta you go to train at Fintan, this is serious business.”
O’Donovan cannot wait until (Sunday). “I’ve really realised that winning is better than not winning, and that’s what we’re going to try and do this weekend.”
It looked like they had several more gears and they may need them tomorrow against some heavyweights, a composite crew of Matthew Haywood and Samuel Meijer (The Tideway Scullers’ School and Nottingham Rowing Club), who won gold in the quadruple sculls at the U23 World Championship in July. Both rowers look like central parts of Great Britain’s sculling future.
Another star with two oars at Henley 2021 is 19-year-old Lauren Henry who defeated the Olympic gold medallist Andrea Proske (False Creek Rowing Club, Canada), in the Princess Royal Challenge Cup (women’s single sculls) on Friday. On Saturday she beat Margaret Fellows (Long Beach Junior Crew, USA) who was fourth in the recent U.S. Olympic trials.My Goodness, My Guinness. HTBS contributor and Irish rowing expert, Greg Denieffe, demonstrates what passes for a balanced diet in his homeland. He called the one on the left “Fintan” and the one on the right “Paul” (though the real Fintan and Paul would not be disposed of quite so quickly).Tideway Scullers in Friday’s Fawley (junior men’s quad sculls).A member of Thames RC shows some style.Westminster and Shrewsbury Schools in a Friday heat of the Princess Elizabeth.Friday’s attendance continued to be well below normal. This is bad for the regatta but wonderful if you wish to get a seat or a drink with ease.Were it needed, another demonstration of the strength-in-depth of Oxford Brookes University. This Friday heat of the Island was between its “A” and “B” crews.Shorts for both men and women are usually banned from the Stewards’ Enclosure. However, “recognised national dress” is allowed – as in the case of Bermuda and its famous “Bermuda shorts”.Leander lead Marlow in Friday’s Wargrave.Lady Margaret, the boat club of St John’s College, Cambridge, demonstrate the original “blazer”.Tideway Scullers and Nottingham RC battle it out in Friday’s Britannia (club coxed fours).John Duff, a man with time on his hands.McCarthy and O’Donovan winning their Friday heat of the Double Sculls.Ladies Single Sculls.London RC’s Britannia Crew racing on Friday.Stylish and comfortable spectators.Craftsbury Green Racing Project, USA, in the Double Sculls on Friday.Down by the riverside.Wallingford racing in Friday’s Diamond Jubilee (junior women’s quad sculls).This year, the single pontoon in its usual place outside where the boat tents normally are was only in use by boats such as this one.Kingston in a heat of Saturday’s Wyfolds (men’s club coxless fours).The bowman of the Magdalene College and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, crew in the Temple takes defeat by the University of London badly (he sat up seconds later and was perfectly well).Leander racing in the Town (women’s coxless fours) on Saturday.London men pacing the racing crews?Dara Alizadeh in Saturday’s Diamond Sculls. He sculled for Bermuda in Tokyo.Henley RC going to the start for a heat of Saturday’s Junior Women’s Eights.Eton was not under pressure in their Saturday heat of the Princess Elizabeth.Attendance was low for a Saturday, usually the busiest day of the five-day regatta. Next year, however, things should be back to normal.
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