Maidenhead Rowing Club sent along a record number of crews to this top International event for Women held over the first 1500m of the historic and prestigious Henley Royal Regatta course.

For the first time since the event was established, 19 years ago, Maidenhead managed to win 2 women's events. A major achievement for a local club competing against fairly tough International competitors.

For this regatta, a number of crews had to race off in a head format on the Friday morning to qualify through for the main side-by-side racing that commenced on Friday afternoon with Semi-finals and Finals carried out on the Sunday.

Maidenhead had four crews that reached the latter stages competing on the Sunday with two of these crews going on to win a much sought after Women's Henley medal.

The first Henley medal win on the Sunday came from Maidenhead’s leading International junior athletes Louise Entwistle and Ally Brooks, who competed for the Ravner Cup in School Junior Double Sculls. In their first round they were drawn against a double from St Neots who had a crew member on board that was part of last year's winning quad. Ally and Louise blasted out of the blocks and led by 2 lengths after the end of the Island and went on to steadily draw out to a 4½ length lead at the finish. In the semi-finals they were up against a strong crew from Fairmount RA USA who had beaten City of Oxford Rowing Club and Maidenhead’s 'B' double in earlier rounds. Again, Maidenhead went out fast of the start and again led by 1 length at the end of the island, steadily powering down the course to a 3½ length victory. The final against Dame Alice Harpur School saw Maidenhead destroy the competition leading by 4½ lengths at the 500m mark, moving out to an easy verdict at the finish in a time of 5m 55s.

Maidenhead's second Henley medal winning crew came from Vicky Sims and Natalie Trinder competing in the Senior Womens Double Sculls. Vicky Sims has recently been successfully competing at Scottish National Champs where she won Gold and Silver medals and is seeking a Scottish vest for the Commonwealth Games. Natalie Trinder is a current Junior National Champion and former member of Maidenhead’s successful Junior Squad, now competing in her first year as a senior. It was excellent for the club to see this level of success following junior athletes up to the senior level.

Racing, as expected, was tough for this lightweight double, but the strength and determination showed through as they steadily progressed, winning some tough races to advance to Sunday's final. On route, the Maidenhead double raced against composites Upper Thames RC/University London which they won by 3 lengths, and in the semi-finals they raced a strong crew from University London/Lea RC which they battled hard to win by 2 lengths at the finish. In the final, Tideway Scullers School pushed hard off the start, but Maidenhead, high on confidence and determination, went for the kill and had broken the Scullers crew by the halfway mark, crossing the line in a time of 6m 04s to record an easy verdict and win the Rosie Mayglothling Trophy for Senior Double Sculls.

Rebekah Kerns and Alice Ancora (who are both only WJ15’s) competed well and raced in the School Junior Double Sculls event going out in the first round to Fairmount RA USA. This Maidenhead double were fast out of the blocks and led at the end of the island by ½ length. At around the 500m mark the USA crew drew level and being 3 to 4 years older they had that much more power that enabled them to draw out to a 4 length lead at the finish. This USA crew turned out to be the second fastest crew in the event.

Maidenhead juniors Laurian Pepper and Caris Marsh teamed up with Alice Leak (Newark RC) and Kara Wirt from Upper Thames Rowing Club to compete in the Schools Junior Quad Sculls. Three of these girls are going through final GB selection stages. In their first round they led from the start against Canford School and went on to record an easy verdict and progressed through to the semi-finals. Here they came up against a quality crew from Henley Rowing Club who posted the same time in winning its heat. Henley were fast off the start and immediately led the Maidenhead composite quad. A tough battle ensued down the course with the Maidenhead composite not letting Henley extend its lead beyond 1 length. Pushing hard to the finish the composite went down by a margin of 7/8 of a length. This was a good performance considering the composite quad had very little time to train together as a quad. Henley led in the final until last 500m when a USA crew moved ahead to win by 3/4 length.

Maidenhead’s World Class Start athlete, Philipa Cuss, was also rowing in a coxed four with athletes from Reading and Wallingford. In Phillipa’s first attempt at Henley she did well to win against George Herriots School by 1 1/3 lengths and went out to Dame Alice Harpur School in the semi-finals by 1/3 length. Dame Alice Harpur in turn went out to Headington School by 2 lengths in the final.

This year, the main Women’s Squad entered three crews: an Intermediate Eight, an Intermediate Coxed Four and a Senior Double Scull. All crews had been training hard throughout the winter season under the watchful eye of Sports Director Eric Sims. Competing in head races and regattas the eight and four showed a lot of promise and Henley Women’s Regatta was much anticipated by both the Club as a whole and the crews.

On Friday, both the Intermediate Eight and Coxed Four had to go through the Qualifiers as both events were heavily over-subscribed. Starting with the eight, the crew flew over the start and was complimented by the regatta’s commentator, calling them ‘lively’ and ‘very strong’, as they sailed past the enclosure. The eight, comprised of Katherine Chapman, Claire Wallace, Helen Stewart, Jo Macbeth, Debbie Thomas, Anne Rees, Louise Perry, Jo Wright with cox Owen Davies, were delighted to hear that they had qualified and would go through to the next round. Here they met a very strong Cambridge 99 ‘A’ crew. The crew pushed against this very strong boat all the way, but unfortunately lost out on a place in the 2nd round by 1½ lengths.

The Coxed Four were keen to mirror the eight's performance in the qualifiers and did just that. Choosing to go off from a standing start, the 4, comprising of Christèle Blin, Caroline Dakers, Keri Johnson, Anne van Diem with cox Jill Danby, flew past the barrier and boating area and impressed quite a few spectators, including the commentators who were quick to say this crew were most certainly ‘favoured’ and looked ‘strong’ coming over the finish line. Sailing into the 1st round the 4+ then met Staines BC. Although late to the start, the club were allowed to race and rowed strongly into the first third of the race. Maidenhead pushed hard and although rowing to their limit, were beaten by 1½ lengths. Although certainly disappointed with their loss, the 4 were pleased to learn that their heat was the fastest on the day.

Captain of Juniors Billy Brooks said “I was very pleased to see the progress the crews are making moving from semi-final achievements in 2005 to winning events in 2006. The junior squad remains strong at the club and we have an exciting few years ahead of us. It was pleasing  to see a first batch of junior women move into the senior squad this year and help them achieve success at HWR including the win in double sculls”.

It was also a fantastic result for Maidenhead Rowing Club Women’s Squad. The squad has certainly shown promise over the past year, rowing strongly in headraces and regattas and for some it has been a steep learning curve, going from complete novice to competing at senior 2 and shows that the appointment of Eric Sims has been invaluable to the progress the club is making.