All the things you need to know about the racing today at Henley Royal Regatta with Sarah Winckless, Race Umpire, Steward and Olympic medallist.
OVERVIEW
So, here we are on Wednesday in our second ever six day regatta, so we need to get our heads around who's racing when. So we continue with the Wyfold, Britannia and Princess Elizabeth and we've got a rest day for the Prince of Wales, Fawley and Diamond Jubilee. Today crews start racing in the Diamonds, Visitors, Wargrave, Island, Prince Albert and Prince Philip. This is slightly different because we've got the Diamonds starting here and later on in the week - I think we've got 14 in this event in the Regatta - we will be seeing the superstars, but today these are the potential new superstars.
CONDITIONS: We saw the story of the headwinds yesterday and one of the things that happened, certainly before tea, was people being rowed down at the end. I thought I was going to see one in the last race of the day, but the City of Bristol held on. Today, again, we're expecting this wind to come up a little bit. We expect it to stay dry, fingers crossed Henley! But later on today, rain is forecast - the rain won't bother the athletes. The wind makes it more challenging.
So lots going there. My ones to watch.
RACES TO WATCH
3 9.10 Visitors' 305 Harvard University, USA vs 309 Melbourne University, AUS
Number three, the visitors, Harvard University up against Melbourne University. This is really interesting. We've got a young 2V from Harvard and a 19 year-old. So, these guys have got Junior international and Under-23 experience. And then Melbourne University, who are slightly older, they're probably out of the under-23 category, but they're here trying to make that transition, I expect, to the elite sport for Australia.
5 9.20 PE 231 Llandaff R.C. vs 217 Brisbane Boys' Coll., AUS
Let's keep on the story of Llandaff that I missed yesterday. The PE, against Brisbane Boys College. I commentated on them yesterday, Brisbane Boys College do look fantastic. There's athletes in there who've not lost since 2021. And we know that Llandaff are here under the new rules. But it's fantastic to see their journey continue.
11 10.00 Island 207 University of London vs 175 Edinburgh University 'A'
Number 10, the Island. Great to see this event starting. We've got the biggest entry in that we've had so far. That's at the gift of the Committee and obviously the strength of the entry. And we watch University of London, who got silver at our British University Championships going against Edinburgh A, who were in the B final of that event at the time. So, let's see how they've traveled between then and now.
22 11.05 Island 178 Georgetown University, USA vs 196 Radcliffe Crew 'A', USA
Number 22, again, the Island. It's great to showcase this event internationally as well. We've got Georgetown University and Radcliffe Crew, USA. And the Radcliffe Crew are very proud, I know, to hold on to that Radcliffe name while competing here for Harvard.
27 11.35 Thames 49 Royal Chester R.C. vs 32 Henley R.C.
The Thames, we've got an interesting boat here, Royal Chester, this is their third boat, but the story, and I am biased about this group, is the Henley Rowing Club group - I do row with them on a Sunday morning, disclaimer! But this crew is between 38 and 48, we've got a number of old Henley winners, so John Gelling, or Richard Gelling, (who's in the programme, won the Fawley, in 97, 98; Nick Friend, who's a son of a Steward, John Friend, won the Thames for Henley in 2005; and also James Padmore who won the Thames for Thames. So we've got a really interesting boat there and actually we've also got Eton's rowing coach in there (Rod Edmondson) and Claire's Court's rowing coach (Tom Jost). So it's great that those guys have come together and we still see them in the Draw (after coming through Qualifying on Friday).
33 12.10 Island 182 Newcastle University 'A' vs 194 Princeton University, USA
Event 33, I'm going to stop for the last Island one. Newcastle A against Princeton University. That Princeton crew looks fantastic.
LUNCHEON INTERVAL
40 2.20 P. Albert 590 G.S.R. Aegir, NED vs 584 Colgate University, USA
After lunch, Prince Albert, we see that starting. We've got the Aegir crew from the Netherlands against Colgate University. The Dutch have come here in great form and I'm looking forward to watching that race.
49 3.15 Diamonds 680 M.R.A. Chute vs 706 L. Smit, CAN
For the first Diamonds race on my ‘Ones to watch’, I’ve picked this interesting match up between Chute and Smit. Chute is no stranger to Henley water having won the Fawley before. He's also looking for U23 contention, so new blood if you like, and the same goes for Mr. Smit from Canada. So interesting to see a competition which might continue on over the next few years.
55 3.50 Diamonds 711 W.E. Young vs 673 D.A. Alizadeh
And then another interesting Diamonds face off, you've got Will Young against Dara Alizadeh. Alizadeh is looking to compete for the Bahamas in the next Olympic Games. He's here, I think, under the London Rowing Club banner, but also he's a Bahamian athlete.
58 4.10 Diamonds 691 L.V. Kreiter, NED vs 685 H.G. Harding, AUS
Kreiter, from the Netherlands, is a past Temple Challenge winner who's now going into the single. Hardin, from Australia, is a lightweight. Interestingly, his mother was the first ever Australian World Championship champion. She was also a lightweight, and she won that in Hazewinkel in 1985. We’ll see whether the expected headwind has any impact on this race.
71 6.30 PE 220 Deerfield Academy, USA vs 246 Shiplake College
After the Tea interval, Deerfield Academy come up against Shiplake College, continuing the American/British story. I’m interested to see how both those crews match up in the evening session.
75 6.50 Diamonds 702 D.G. Schroder, AUS vs 681 S.N.B. Cox, ZIM
And the final one I wanted to pick up was Schroder against Cox. Schroder is an U23 lightweight looking to compete for Australia, and Cox is on an IOC Olympic Solidarity grant. This grant is provided by the Olympics to improve diversity in the single scull and aid athletes in their training.
