Henley Thursday

Today saw another good day's racing for our crews.  You had to be in Henley early to catch the warm-up act, the 'B' quad consisting of three boys from the 3rd VIII and one from the 2nd.  In the good conditions that blessed the early morning this crew raced well against Windsor Boys' 'A' crew.  Windsor Boys' took an early lead, and had around a length by Fawley.  However, our boys pushed hard past Remenham, and kept them under pressure down the second half of the course, partly through excellent steering (commented on by umpire Matt Pinsent no less) keeping them out of the stream as much as possible.  Windsor Boys' have been a strong sculling school for many years,  and to keep their top boat honest down the course was a good achievement.

The VIII raced in the afternoon and had a comfortable victory over Bedford School.  The verdict was just short of 'easily' and the boys were again quick out of the blocks, posting good times to the Barrier and Fawley.  This was another row to build on the confidence engendered by yesterday's win.  Henley campaigns are a bit like Wimbledon fortnights; it is a long haul, and there is much to get right.  Seeing off the more straightforward looking fixtures effectively is an important part of this, and adds to the resources to be drawn on later in the week.  Tomorrow will see a sterner test in the form of Scotch College, Australia at 1620.  The evidence suggests that this will be a close encounter, but it is certainly a winnable race.  The towpath chatter is starting to suggest that some of the hype around this Scotch crew may not be entirely justified...

Elsewhere in today's races there were some results to put a couple of our defeats yesterday in perspective.  The Canadians from Victoria (again on Bucks) saw off Conestoga High School of the US, who are a selected crew, by a greater margin than they managed over our 'A' quad yesterday. The Star crew who beat the Vikings saw off Agecroft with ease and look a good bet for the final of the Brit.

OE interest is now mostly centred around Harvard.  Josh Bernstein rows in their Temple 'A' crew at 1030, and Caspar Jopling will row in their varsity boat as it starts its campaign in the Ladies' Challenge Plate at 1520.  Henry Goodier is going strong with Imperial College in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup and will race next on Saturday.  Chris Snowden was in a Goldie four which went out on Wednesday, and Will Kenworthy was in a UL four which went out today.