On the last weekend of October, we embarked on our first trip to Henley to race with the whole squad at Upper Thames Small Boats Head, all of us equipped with new and shiny Tethys lycra. For some of us, it was yet another trip down to that stretch of river that we know almost as well as our home stretch, for others it was the first trip to see the waters between Temple Island and the town of Henley. And what a beautiful autumn day it was! We took a whole fleet of boats, ranging from doubles to coxed/coxless fours. First task – unload, rig, and tighten all the nuts and bolts — Done in record time. Some of the new steerers and coxswains found their first challenge when marshalling for division one turned into a game of ‘how close can you stack 150 boats’. Once everyone had disentangled from the chaos, it was a matter of spinning and racing down the course that will be so familiar in a few months time. Temple Island, the Barrier, Upper Thames, and then wind it towards Phyllis Court. Head races are different from bumps races, some of us had to find out — even if you catch up the crew in front of you, you have to keep going to the end, remembering to push and pace yourself. After the first race, some of us were surprised how long 3k can feel, and concerned about surviving the next division. But worries aside, after some lunch a second race didn’t seem that impossible any more. In a re-fueled state we focussed on the crews for the second part of the challenge. This time, marshalling seemed a little bit more organised, which caused smaller stress levels. We got off the water, tired, with more experience and knowing what to work on in the next few months. The final bit of the day – de-rig, load the boats and off to Starbucks, for the traditional post-race coffee chat about what went well, what went badly and what we wanted for dinner. The results came out shortly after – some of our crews had to race without opposition due to insufficient entries, or for time only after injuries and illnesses hit parts of the squad. Overall, there was satisfaction with the times and results, but we know that it’s a long way til March. The novice doubles came 2nd and 3rd in their race, and one of our IM3 4+ beat two Osiris crews — celebrations with coffee and Sunday roast were in order. All in all, a good day, which made us hungry for more races and showed us what the long hours of land training are good for.
Happy after a good day's racing
As coxswain trained in America and transplanted to Oxford for a year, the word “Henley” sparks a kind of mythical excitement in my blood. I arrived at Henley Women’s Regatta Friday morning in a giddy, nervous state of happiness, fully aware that I may never again get the opportunity to race this course. As a crew, we knew we could go out and row a solid race, knock down some competition, and do Oxford and Tethys proud. We had limited practice as a crew – what coach Chris O’Hara and ourselves dubbed “a crash-course in racing together”. What normal crews would have three weeks to do we had compressed into three days, but the crew came together quickly and while we knew we might not be the best-practiced boat on the water, as a crew we had heart and drive.
