Marlow Regatta
On Saturday the senior men’s squad headed down to Dorney Lake for Marlow Regatta, the final event of the season before Henley Royal. Just three boats made the journey, each making the last touches to their Henley campaigns.
With a long season behind them, and a lot learned at BUCS regatta, the lightweight 4x took a comfortable second in their time trial for Openweight Tier 2 Quads. Straight into the A final, they went off fast, holding onto a Windsor School alumni crew through three challenges, not being shaken off over the 2km, ultimately falling just short on the line by just 0.4 seconds in what was a great race for the spectators start to finish. This experience will set them up well for the qualifying races for Henley Royal.
The 8+ in the University category had a later time trial, with the wind picking up it was a harder fight down the course, but they managed to come away with a time placing them 7th in the group, and securing a spot at the top of the B final in the evening. With a position to hold onto in their final, the eight took on the fight, battling it down the course to keep the top spot in the B final and their place overall.
In the 4+, as with the 8, a decent time trial performance put them 7th overall, now racing up in the Championship category. With a matter of seconds separating a number of crews in the top 12 of the group, the finals set the scene for some good racing. The time trial and straight-final format of racing at Marlow always promises to deliver some close racing, and the four delivered this with their win in the B final over a close field in a sprint to the line.