Newark Rowing Club’s junior women qualify to compete at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta, Henley-on-Thames. The women went on to compete for the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup, making it through to the second day of the challenging five day event.
Last week, saw club history for Newark Rowing Club with the first women’s crew to qualify for Royal Henley Regatta, and to go on to compete on the Thursday of the 5 day event. 18 years-old Maisie Archer-Dytch and Emily McCrery alongside 17 years-old Neve Woodman and Connie Ferrer, competed for the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup, Junior Women’s Quads, after making it through the qualifying round on Saturday 7 August. In order to qualify for the Regatta, crews must race a 1,900m time trial and make a qualifying time. A total of 14 crews raced for a spot in the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup with only 7 crews making it to race side-by-side at the Regatta itself.
The girls were drawn to race Great Marlow School in the first heat of the Regatta, taking place on Wednesday 11 August. After a strong start, the girls remained level with Great Marlow, however, proceeded to pull away after 300m of the 2,112m course. Newark rowed strong for the remainder of the course, dominating the race, and even bringing the stroke rate down to a steady state rather than a race rate. The girls won the first round in a respectable 8 minutes 36 seconds, with a winning verdict of ‘easily’.
The next round on Thursday 12 August proposed a challenge for Newark as they were drawn against Shiplake College who went on to win the event. The girls faced a disrupting start as Shiplake steered onto their station, forcing Newark to move over also. Once back on track, the girls showed courage and determination against Shiplake, and went on to have an excellent row despite not winning this round.
“Henley Royal Regatta is one of the biggest, and most prestigious regattas in the world, and as a club, we are so incredibly proud of the girls for not only securing a qualifying spot, but to also get two days of racing in,” comments Club Captain, Andy Joy. “This is a testament to the hard work and dedication shown by the athletes and their coach over the past months during a period of unprecedented uncertainty.”
Huge congratulations to Maisie, Em, Neve, Connie, and Head Coach, Ashley Cowley, on this incredible achievement. Bring on Henley Royal Regatta 2022!