GROSVENOR Rowing Club fielded their largest ever entry in the world’s most famous rowing regatta – Henley Royal – and emerged with their best results for many years.
The Chester club had three crews racing on the Thames.
Grosvenor’s coxless four, competing for the Wyfold Challenge Cup, were selected by the regatta stewards based on past performance, while the eight won a place in the Thames Challenge Cup through qualifying races.
The same applied to Iwan Jones, a crew member of the eight also racing in the Diamond Challenge Sculls.
The format of the regatta involves each crew racing once a day, with the 32 crews starting on a Wednesday being halved each day.
The Grosvenor eight of Ben Dickinson, Tim Goldsborough, Pete Dean, Brian Black, Mark Edney, Iwan Jones, Phil Hill and Rob Wareing, coxed by Sarah Armstrong, had a tough start and were up against Newport Aquatic Club from California, a seeded crew.
Expectations were high for Newport and the Americans took an early lead, which they held for much of the course. But the Grosvenor crew proved stronger, rowing through Newport to win by 6ft.
The coxless four of Tim Betteridge, Matt Neame, Paul Turner and Martin Chandler showed good form, dispatching their opponents Twickenham by a margin of four lengths after leading all the way down the course.
On Thursday, all crews had testing opposition. The eight saw off Tees Rowing Club by half a length to secure a place in the quarter finals, while the coxless four were beaten by two lengths by the formidable Commercial RC of Ireland.
Iwan Jones had a busy day, racing twice, and was unlucky to draw well known sculler Will Hoodless in the single, losing by three lengths after his victory in the eight earlier in the day.
By Friday, Grosvenor’s eight were one of just eight crews remaining in the Thames Challenge Cup and were drawn to face KRS Ghent of Belgium.
Ghent had a quick start but the Grosvenor crew responded and were able to maintain overlap with the Belgian crew until halfway, only to end up losing by three lengths.
The overall performance by the Grosvenor eight was the best ever in the club’s recent history.
Grosvenor RC welcomes new members. For further information, contact captain Chris Hudson on 07713 784319.
