This year at Henley saw the UL men qualify 3 men’s eights in the Temple Challenge Cup for the first time, and the women racing in the Hambleden, Town, Princess Royal, and the Island. Supported by a sea of purple on the banks, ULBC athletes made the final in the Hambleden pairs, semi-final in the Town, quarter final in the Princess royal, and heats in the two student eights events.
Hambelden pairs:
Off the back of a dominant HWR win in championship pairs (for the second time), Final year medic Emily Lindberg (UL) and her pair partner Lizzie Witt (IC) made it furthest for ULBC HRR this year, knocking out well-established Leander crews during the week to progress to the weekend. On the Saturday, Emily and Lizzie had a tough race against the Dutch U23 pair (that went on to come second at the world championships), coming out on top, progressing to the Sunday. In a well-fought fight against a GB pair (who both raced in the Tokyo 8+), they lost by 1¾ lengths in the final. This ended Emily’s impressive 6 years at ULBC; a university rowing career that saw her race for GB in U23 and development crews, win at multiple HWR & BUCS, and race 2 HRR finals for the club. She has now taken a role as the welfare officer for the current squad whilst working as an F1 at West Middlesex Hospital.
Town:
Off the back of racing the HWR final in a UL/Leander composite against our UL/IC pair, Phoebe Snowden raced an U23 composite four in the Town Challenge cup. After victories over Scottish composite and Syracuse crews during the week, they lost to the to the GB senior (World Champion) four on the Saturday by 2¼ lengths. Shortly after HRR, Phoebe was selected for her second U23 world championships under UL in the W8+, placing 4th in a competitive field out in Plovdiv.
Princess Royal:
In the Princess Royal, Georgie Robinson Ranger raced the single against a field of international scullers. On the Thursday, in a tight race all the way down the track, Georgie took victory over Marie-Sophie Zeidler (GER) after an exciting sprint finish through the enclosures. She then went on to race silver Olympian Marta Wieliczko (POL) on the Friday, and after pushing all the way down the track in a tough headwind, was beaten by a length.
Island:
In the eights, the women’s first eight raced in the Island, for the 3rd year of the women’s student eights events. They were drawn against the Edinburgh first eight in the first round, and after a tough race, were knocked out by 1 length.
Temple:
The men qualified three eights gor the Temple Challenge cup for the first time in UL history. The first eight fell on the wrong side of an unlucky draw. In a weekend-worthy race, they were knocked out by Syracuse (who went on to lose the final) by ⅓ of a length. The men’s second eight drew Brookes ‘A’, and after a flying start out the blocks, they were overtaken by the barrier, and came home just shy of 2 lengths behind. The men’s third eight drew an Oxford college composite in the first round, and raced well, progressing to the second round where they lost to Harvard.
