The University of Nottingham had strong representation at one of the most prestigious rowing events in the calendar - Henley Royal Regatta. Taking place at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, the #GreenandGold of University of Nottingham Boat Club had numerous entries amongst the 732 that were entered at the tournament across six days of action - the second highest number of entries in Henley's 184-year history.
Beginning on 27th June, the University of Nottingham qualified every boat entered, and began their campaign on the water with our male athletes. Competing in the Temple challenge cup, seeing them draw the prestigious Harvard University. Harvard have a giant reputation of always performing at the highest standard, but our men’s squad didn’t back down easily from the fight and still put on an impressive race. Our squad for this race was; Charlotte Brand (Cox), Luke knight, Sam Bennett, Will Tozer, Dylan James, George Wright, Oli Lawton, James Lawn, Lucas Salmon.
Our first Island challenge 8; our women’s 8+ of Charlotte Brand (Cox), Georgie Thorp, Katie Kearsey, Anna Kemsley, Emmie Kirkhope, Izzy Blake-Hurworth, Holly Burke, Charlotte Sanders, and Helena Singleton stormed their first round beating Newcastle B on Wednesday, the next round was upon them - drawing Penn State. This was a tough draw from the USA, and the girls left all their efforts on the water and after a great race, they were unfortunately knocked out. However; this is the first women’s 8 that Nottingham have managed to qualify for Henley Royal at and managing to get through a round is an exceptional achievement.
Thursday brought more racing, and we saw the women’s quad racing in the Princess Grace Challenge Cup. Our crew of Cleo Pryor, Grace Church, Zoe Labdon, Tess O’Donnell had not long been together, only training together a week prior, but quickly connected and drew another international crew – D.S.R Laga & A.S.R Nerus from the Netherlands. This is their national crew and despite the result our girls put on a stellar performance and definitely made Nottingham proud. Tess O'Donnell said of the experience; "Henley Royal Regatta is the pinnacle of rowing, so to be able to race and have all the Nottingham crews qualify was an amazing result. To be able to race the Dutch in the Princess Grace, despite limited time in the boat, showed all the hard work we had put in throughout the season finally paid off."
Finally, closing the racing for Nottingham was our women’s single, Sinead Turner-Frick who, came up against a Polish Olympian. Despite this draw making a tough task even more challenging, Sinead put her to the test and displayed true excellence. Unfortunately, the Polish sculler would show her class and would go on to win the Princess Royal Challenge Cup.
Both Nottingham captains spoke to us to reflect on the competition. Men's Captain Sam Bennett said "I couldn’t be prouder of the effort from the guys. After knowing we had been given a tough draw, it was great to still see their dedication and left nothing when it came to the race. This week we gained a lot of experience against the very top boats and has served as a good stepping stone heading into next season." Katie Kearsey, women's captain added, "this was my second time competing at Henley Royal Regatta for UoNBC and it was definitely the highlight of the my season. Qualifying for the women’s student eights - the Island Challenge Cup - was one thing, let alone winning a round against Newcastle University and getting the opportunity to race an international crew from University of Pennsylvania. The support from the UoN coaching team and atmosphere from the Nottingham crowds made this experience one to remember and I cannot wait for next year when we’ll come back even stronger, with another year of training under our belts."
For the University of Nottingham Boat Club, Henley Regatta marks the end of an incredibly successful season. Selected athletes will go on to compete at EUSA in Poland, as we are sending a women’s quad and a lightweight men’s double for compete for Nottingham university under GB universities. These were qualified through the excellent performance at BUCS Regatta. Additionally, Home International Regatta is amongst the cards for some of the squad, with our women’s 4 winning the event for England last year.
September marks the start of next season, and welcoming our new members to preseason camp ahead of the academic year. We congratulate the club on their success throughout the 2022/23 season and look forward to welcoming them back in the Autumn.
You can keep up to date with UoNBC (University of Nottingham Boat Club) on their social media channels (Instagram and Twitter) as well as the clubs website.
You can also find out more about Performance Rowing at the University of Nottingham here.
As well as a reputation for academic excellence, we have a history of sporting success and are passionate about supporting promising athletes during their time at the University of Nottingham. To find out more about our Sports Scholarship, please click here.
Posted on Friday 7th July 2023