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HTBS Types are an observant lot and they have probably noticed that the first two days of the 186th Henley Royal Regatta have gone unrecorded by me (fortunately, William O’Chee has not been so tardy). This does not mean that they did not happen – as the excellent coverage on the regatta’s YouTube channel proves with its day one and day two summaries.
As usual, I do not attempt to offer results, analysis or predictions but simply try and capture the atmosphere of a unique occasion that somehow manages to give the totally false impression that it has not changed since John Betjeman wrote about it in 1902:
Underneath a light straw boater In his pink Leander tie Ev’ry ripple in the water caught the Captain in the eye. O’er the plenitude of houseboats Plop of punt-poles, creak of rowlocks, Many a man of some distinction scanned the reach to Temple Island
As a south wind fluttered by, Till it shifted, westward drifting, strings of pennants house-boat high, Where unevenly the outline of the brick-warm town of Henley Dominated by her church tower and the sheds of Brakspear’s Brewery
Lay beneath a summer sky. Plash of sculls! And pink of ices! And the inn-yards full of ostlers, and the barrels running dry, And the baskets of geraniums Swinging over river-gardens Led us to the flowering heart of England’s willow-cooled July.
HTBS’ man on the tow path 1: William O’Chee.HTBS’ man on the tow path 2: Tim Koch.The boat tent area at 8.20am, forty minutes before the first race of the day.Martin and Valent Sinković of Croatia (with their backs to the camera). Now aged 35 and 36, they have won three Olympic golds and more than fifty international medals together. They will be in a Stewards’ four with another pair of brothers, the 25-year-olds Patrik and Anton Lončarić. Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands, go afloat for a heat of the Island (Student Women’s Eights) where they beat Oxford Brookes B by 1 1/4 lengths.Ruder-Club Allemannia von 1866 e.V., Hamburg, Germany, pushes off for a heat of the Fawley (Junior Open Quad Sculls) where they were beaten by the Grange School by 2 1/2 lengths.As is usual, attendance for the first races of the day was light.There is no problem with finding a seat at 9.00am.The first race of the day was a 9.00am heat of the premier women’s single sculls, The Princess Royal. Pictured is Imogen Grant, now racing for Upper Thames, who was against Maistrenko of the Ukrainian Rowing Federation.Grant beat Maistrenko by three lengths, then went to Slough, 16 miles away, for her shift as a resident hospital doctor before returning for the last race of the day at 6.50pm as a sub in the Cambridge University crew racing Oxford Brookes in the Bridge (Intermediate Women’s Eight). Cambridge won by 3 1/2 lengths.Two members of the Grasshopper Club Zurich with their famous green trousers.Marlow RC beating Reading University B by 2 lengths in a heat of the Prince of Wales (Intermediate Open Quad Sculls).
Umpire John Hedger declares a clean race.
Arakawa of NTT East Rowing Club, Japan, who beat Wilkinson of Greenbank Falmouth RC by 2 lengths in a heat of the Diamonds (Premier Open Single Sculls). I think that Arakawa may be the first Japanese competitor in the Diamonds. Clubmates.Grange School beating Ruder-Club Allemannia von 1866 e.V., Hamburg, Germany, by 2 1/2 lengths in the Fawley (Junior Open Quad Sculls).An elegant spectator does not waste time between races.Newcastle University beating the University of San Diego, USA, by 1 1/2 lengths in a heat of the Prince Albert (Student Open Coxed Fours).More uncrowded early morning spectators.Elizabethan Boat Club and Cambridge ’99 Rowing Club who beat Oxford University ‘B’ by 3 lengths in a heat of the Visitors’ (intermediate Open Coulees Fours).Elegance at Phyllis Court, the country club on the Bucks side.Oxford Brookes University ‘B’ who were beaten by Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands, by 1 1/4 lengths in a heat of the Island (Student Women’s Eights).
An almost invisible spectator.
Tideway Scullers’ School beat Marlow Rowing Club by 3 1/4 lengths in a heat of the Fawley (Junior Open Quad Sculls).Henley Style.McGuinness and Reinhard of Rowing Australia pass the photographer’s stand in their heat of the Premier open event, the Double Sculls, where they beat Lomas and Clack of Leander Club by 3 lengths.Edinburgh University ‘A’ on their way to race Oxford Brookes University ‘A’ in a heat of the Island (Student Women’s Eights) where they lost by 2 lengths.The bow of Tideway Scullers’ School and Ever Green Boat Club, USA, on his way to the start for a race of the Visitors’ (Intermediate Open Coulees Fours) against Molesey Boat Club and Holstebro Roklub, Denmark. The latter won “Easily.”An announcer’s nightmare: Bonner Ruder-Gesellschaft e.V. and Erster Kieler Ruder-Club von 1862 e.V., Germany, beating Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus and Roeivereeniging Studenten Vrije Universiteit Okeanos, Netherlands, by only 3 feet in a heat of the Prince of Wales (Intermediate Open Quad Sculls).A Brasenose College, Oxford, man finds a good spot from which to watch the racing.Leander Club and Tideway Scullers’ School who beat Thames Rowing Club ‘B’ by 1 2/3 lengths in a heat of the Visitors’ (intermediate Open Coxless Fours).Austin-Baker of Hinksey Sculling School who was beaten in a heat of the Diamonds (Premier Open Single Sculls) by Hamill of Waikato Rowing Club, New Zealand, by 3/4 length.Ellis of London RC whose Britannia crew (Club Open Coxed Fours) beat Thames “B” by 1 length.Mother and Son, Lizzy Saary (40) and Felix Buttle (18), who both successfully qualified within their respective crews for The Wargrave (Club Women’s Eights) and The Princess Elizabeth (Junior Open Eights). Picture: HRR.
Hear The Boat Sing 