100 Years ago at Henley

Union Boat Club, closes to the camera, meeting Harvard for a celebratory row at Henley Royal Regatta this summer.

HTBS just received an e-mail from American 1956 Olympian cox, Bill Becklean (whom we wrote about on 18 June). Bill went to Henley Regatta this summer to, among other things, cox in a ‘reenactment race’ to celebrate the 1914 Grand Challenge Cup race between the American crews Harvard JV and Union Boat Club, of Boston. A race that Harvard famously won.

‘Both organizations showed up with veterans to row over the course during the lunch intermission on the day of the finals. Both crews much enjoyed the demo,’ Bill writes.

The UBC crew, back row: Bill Becklean, Charlie Clapp, Sam Batchelor and Derek Silver; front row:  Val Hollingsworth, Mike Corr, Rob Wettech, Alecs Zoluls and Josi Shamir. (Sorry, no information on the names in the Harvard crew more than Devin Mahoney, cox.

Update 3 August: On the River and Rowing Museum's new blog Home Front Henley, on 5 July, there is a contemporary account of the race between Union BC and Harvard - read it here. See also the blog on 30 June, here.

Chris Dodd: Henley Royal Regatta 1976

Thames Tradesmen leading Leander in the final of the Grand. Photo: Rowing August 1976.

As HTBS readers know by now, YouTube is a real treasure trove when it comes to film clips on rowing. HTBS’s Tim Koch found two wonderful films from the 1976 Henley Royal Regatta on YouTube. HTBS asked rowing historian Christopher Dodd to write a commentary about Henley for that year. As many of you are aware of, Dodd is an authority on British rowing and he paid special attention to the country’s rowing progress during the 1970s in his book Pieces of Eight: Bob Janousek and his Olympians (2012).

Christopher Dodd writes:

Henley Regatta took place on 1-4 July 1976 at the end of a heat wave. The temperature reached over 90° Fahrenheit*, humidity was at its wettest, the river low and the stream minimal. There was a new hazard to Henley, clearly visible in the YouTube video clips – swimmers on the booms and on the course. See the following film:



The open events were devoid of national crews, including the entire British team, who were in Canada preparing for the Montreal Olympics. Britain’s best hopes for medals that summer were the men’s eight, hand-picked three years before by Bob Janousek, the national coach, and the double scullers Chris Baillieu and Mike Hart. The eight’s last pre-Olympic regatta was Lucerne, held before Henley that year, and there was no opportunity to thrill the home crowd at Henley.

So the open events were short of class if not of competition. Janousek’s eight was a blend of Leander Club and Thames Tradesmen, and it was these two clubs who finished up contesting the Grand. Both contained men who had missed Olympic selection. 

Leander reached the final by beating the University of British Columbia (three quarter length) followed by London University (half length). Tradesmen arrived there by beating London RC by a third of a length. London were effectively the national lightweight eight (no Olympic lightweight events in 1976). London University were coxed by John Boultbee, who later became the first Australian to be elected a Henley Steward.

As the clip shows, Tradesmen won a close final by two thirds of a length. This was the second attempt after a re-row was ordered by the umpire after Leander stopped at the top of the Island during the first attempt when their rudder hit a submerged object.

The race was re-scheduled for 4.15 p.m. (three and a quarter hours after the first start), and Tradesmen went out to three quarters of a length at Fawley and saw off Leander’s attempts to get even.

The crews in the Grand final were:

Thames Tradesmen: Mallin, K. Cusack, Burch, Wilson, Bayles, Roberts, Milligan, Brown, cox Sherman.

Leander: D. and G. Innes, Tatton, Hardingham, King, Woodward-Fisher, Gregory, Rankine, cox Lee.

The commentaries on these clips are by Jim Railton, the rowing correspondent of The Times, who had been the ARA’s trainer in the late 1960s and who, a sprinter by sport, had blooded himself in rowing as a volunteer coach at Tradesmen.

Railton has a comfortable, warm voice with a trace of his Liverpudlian origin, and he doesn’t make mistakes. But his performance highlights the problems of commentating on rowing and filming on the Henley course. He is caught between the producers’ paranoia of silence breaking out even when the viewer can see what is happening, and the commentator’s paucity of information. Although he had coached some of these men – producing a famous ‘Beatle’ four of Mason, Clark, Robertson and Smallbone who morphed into Janousek’s Olympic squad – Railton doesn’t furnish us with their record, past performance or personal history. Added to which, he’s talking to a monitor in a trailer somewhere. It’s unfair to throw all the blame for lack lustre at him. The same challenges face the Stewards today as they seriously consider getting the tv cameras in.

The Thames Cup in 1976 was electric because the local club, Henley RC, were on the brink of winning their first Henley medal. They beat Saxon, Vesta, Rollins College and the selected University of Pennsylvania to reach a final against Harvard. Their race with Penn was hairy because Henley lost an oar from a rowlock on the 18th stroke, but recovered to take the lead.

A year before, Harvard had lost the first round of the Thames to Garda Siochana, the Irish police, who went on to win the cup. It was the first time Harvard had lost in the Thames, and in 1976 they were keen to recover their record. They were selected and reached the final by way of wins over Molesey, Imperial College, Hansa Dortmund and Christiania of Norway.

The final was a cracker. Henley had a canvas at the quarter mile signal and kept it to the Barrier and stretched it to a third of a length at Fawley, over-rating Harvard. Then Harvard drew level at the three quarter signal. Henley rose to 41 and Harvard to 43 to bring the latter home first by a canvas.

The crews in the Thames Cup final were:

Harvard: McGee, Templeton, Wood, Moore, Wiley, Perkins, Porter, Gardiner, cox You.

Henley RC: Maffre, Bushnell, Smith, Allen, Marsden, Pankhurst, Glenn, Richardson, cox Woodford.

After Hansa Dortmund withdrew, the Stewards’ was a straight final between University of British Columbia and Thames Tradesmen. Both crews had also rowed in the Grand, with Tradesmen having covered extra mileage that day because of the Grand re-row. The Canadians took the lead off the start and had a length and a half at the mile. Tradesmen then reduced the gap and pulled a desperate splurge out of their hat to finish a third of a length down.

The crews in the Stewards final were:

UBC and Vancouver RC: Rea, Bodnar, Moran, Allester.

Thames Tradesmen: Mallin, Roberts, Milligan, Cusack.

The Princess Elizabeth for schools was marred by the exam timetable again, complained the Henley recorder. Why these people who arrange A levels cannot conduct their affairs to avoid the Henley timetable, he couldn’t imagine. There were two selected crews – Holy Spirit High School (U.S.) and Emanuel School from Wandsworth, and they duly met in the final. Holy Spirit beat Hampton and Tabor Academy to get there, and Emanuel disposed of Abingdon and Eton.

In the final Holy Spirit led to the Barrier, where Emanuel drew level. Not for long, however. The Americans had half a length at the three quarters signal and drew away at the end to win by two thirds of a length.

The crews in the Princess Elizabeth final were:

Holy Spirit HS: McDevitt, Millar, Bibik, Foerster, Guenther, Welsh, White, Brown, cox Maguire.

Emanuel School: Tollitt, Ridgley, Lemmens, G. Roberts, Field, Downie, N. Roberts, C. Roberts, cox Upton.



The other half of the Tradesmen Grand eight won the Prince Philip for coxed fours by a row-over. Leander, the other finalists, withdrew because they were also rowing in the re-scheduled Grand and refused to contest the Philip before it. So the Philip was a damp squib – not the only one on the Sunday afternoon. With a fork of lightning and a clap of thunder, the weather broke, and all thoughts turned to Montreal.

Christopher Dodd’s Pieces of Eight is available from the River & Rowing Museum here and Richard Way Bookseller, 54 Friday Street, Henley-on-Thames or give them a call at INT+44+(0)1491-576663.

*Editor's Note: In an unsigned article about the 1976 Henley Regatta in the magazine Rowing, August 1976 issue, it was stated about the warm weather:

On two days in the nineties the rule about jackets was relaxed in the Stewards’ Enclosure, although ties were still required and shirts had to stay on in the public enclosure. On the banks it was bikini tops which came off, making paddling up to the start more interesting than usual.

Life in Britain in 1914

From the Telegraph's series Life on the Eve of War, episode "Fashion in 1914" by Drusilla Beyfus.

The Daily Telegraph is right now running a series called "Life on the Eve of War" with episodes called, for example, "Women's Rights in 1914", "Art & Culture in 1914", "Food in 1914", "Cars & Planes in 1914" and "Fashion in 1914". More is to follow, and we hope that eventually there will be one piece called "Sports in 1914" (I guess, hoping for a "Rowing in 1914" would be to ask for too much...). While we are waiting for this episode, you can enjoy Drusilla Beyfus's "Fashion in 1914" in which you will find the image above, an advertisement for Burberry suits showing a gentleman at a rowing regatta, probably Henley.

Henley: Work (Still) In Progress

Tats .....

...and hats.

Tim Koch writes:

The first picture shows a member of Oxford Brooks University ‘B’, having just lost to the University of Michigan in the Temple Challenge Cup (Student Men’s 8+). The picture below that sees the University of London leading Oklahoma City River Sport ‘B’, USA, in a heat of the Visitors’ Challenge Cup (Intermediate Men’s 4-).

I am continuing in my attempts to find time (between the demands of a job and, more importantly, a rowing club) to produce some posts from the mass of material that I brought back from Henley. My new Digital SLR camera takes three frames a second and the result is 1,000 pictures to choose from! If you, dear HTBS readers, are patiently waiting, here are a few things to keep you in the Henley mood.

Judge....

... and jury.

Umpire John Hedger and (below) spectators in the Stewards’ Enclosure.

Rachel Quarrell’s final’s day report is on the Telegraph’s website. I cannot seem to find any other Henley reports from the quality British press online. Were they too busy reporting English and Scottish failures in football and tennis? Probably…

French.....

...letter (a joke for older, British readers).

Club France come in ahead of Hollandia Roeiclub, Netherlands, in the Queen Mother Challenge Cup (Men’s Open Quads). The other picture shows some of the crew from University of California, Berkley, USA, who beat California Rowing Club and New York Athletic Club, USA, in a heat of the Ladies’ Challenge Plate (Intermediate Men's 8+)

Henley Royal Regatta has its own YouTube Channel with brief coverage of most days.
 

Eton....

....and beaten.

Eton’s Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup (‘PE’) crew (Junior Men’s 8+) go to the start for their Friday race – in which they beat Pangbourne College. The following shot is of St Edwar’s School celebrating victory over Radley College, also in the PE.

It is always interesting to see how (seemingly) little has change by looking at, for example, this film of 1961 (if only the lower reaches of the course were as uncommercialised today as they were fifty years ago).

Press...

...and push.

The view from the photographer’s stand, next to the ‘progress board’, about ten strokes from the finish. Upper Thames RC are rowing to victory in the final of the Britannia Challenge Cup (Men’s Club 4+), beating Bayer Leverkusen, Germany. The quad pictured is from Gloucester RC and Northwich RC, racing in the Princess Grace Challenge Cup (Women’s Open 4x).

OK, I cannot keep the ‘pairing’ joke going but here are some more nonetheless nice images from Henley 2014.

Why a boatload of Elvis impersonators should have become a Henley tradition, I do not know but they make their way up and down the course every year. Here they applaud their ‘fellow Americans’, Cornell University as they are led by Oxford Brooks University ‘A’ in the Temple Challenge Cup (Men’s Student 8+).

It looks like a case of  ‘All rowed fast but none so fast as stroke’ (a common but discredited ‘quotation’, see here.) Hampton recover from their very close race with Brunswick School, USA, in the PE on the Friday.

St Edward’s School show fine form in a heat of the PE.

This young man may have been defeated on the Friday but he can content himself with the fact that he has 5% body fat.

Perhaps Dulwich College (front) can take some compensation from the fact that, while they were defeated by Shawnigan Lake School, Canada (back), in the PE, it happened in beautiful surroundings.

The University of London race Harvard in a semi-final of the Visitors’ (Men’s Intermediate 4-). They are at ‘The Barrier’ (beyond which coaches could not ride their horses), 636 metres into the 2112-metre course.

Another delightful day draws to an end.

Photographs © Tim Koch.

Finals Day at a Classic Henley: Everyone's a Winner

Frankfurter Rudergesellschaft do some pre-race bonding. It must have been effective as they won the Thames Cup.

Tim Koch reports from the final day at Henley:

The last boat crossed the Henley finish line just after 4.07pm, Sunday 6 July. The day saw twenty winners and twenty boats that did not win. I am not going to say that they were ‘losers’ because to race in a final at Henley Regatta is a pretty special thing. Those going home without a medal may not have found this much compensation in the immediate post-race period but, by the time I am writing this, they should be feeling a little better (though some probably will not be feeling anything at all having sought solace in the warm bosom of alcohol).

I have returned home, not with a Henley Medal, but with 500 photographs that I took in the space of eight hours. I will treat HTBS readers to a selection of them over the next week, probably covering the ‘open’ events first and later dealing with the rest. In brief, the results are below. This is followed by an edited version of the official press release on the finals races. Finally, though it is getting very late and it’s back to work on Monday, I would like to share a special insight that I gained on the last day of the races into what makes champions.

Open Men
Grand Challenge Cup (8+) – Leander & University of London
Stewards’ Challenge Cup (4-) – Molesey B.C. and Leander Club
Queen Mother Challenge Challenge Cup (4x) – Leander Club & Agecroft RC
Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup (2-) – Julien Bahain & Mitchel Steenman (Netherlands)
Double Sculls Challenge Cup (2x) – Stany Delayre and Jérémie Azou (France)
Diamond Challenge Sculls (1x) – Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand)

Open Women
Remenham Challenge Cup (8+) – Leander & Imperial College, London
Princess Grace Challenge Cup (4x) – Leander Club & Gloucester RC
Princess Royal Challenge Cup (1x) – Mirka Knapkova (Czech Republic)

Intermediate Men
Ladies’ Challenge Plate (8+) – University of California, Berkeley (USA)
Visitors’ Challenge Cup (4-) – Harvard University (USA)
Prince of Wales Challenge Cup (4x) – Leander Club

Student Men
Temple Challenge Cup (8+) – Oxford Brookes University ‘A’
Prince Albert Challenge Cup (4+) – Newcastle University ‘A’

Club Men
Thames Challenge Cup (8+) – Frankfurter R.G. (Germany)
Wyfold Challenge Cup (4-) – Upper Thames RC ‘A’
The Britannia Challenge Cup (4+) – Upper Thames RC ‘A’

Junior Men
Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup (8+) – Eton College
Fawley Challenge Cup (4x) – Sir William Borlase’s School

Junior Women
Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup (4x) – Gloucester RC

Mirka Knapkova - the Champion’s Champion.

This is what the HRR press release said about some of the races rowed on finals day:

British crews produced a strong string of performances to dominate the finals day of the 175th Anniversary Henley Royal Regatta. There were wins in the open events for men’s and women’s eights, the men’s four and the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls on a day which saw a brace of races decided by just three feet after the 2112-metre course.

As expected the Olympic Champions Mahe Drysdale, of New Zealand, and Mirka Knapkova, Czech Republic, won the two open events for single scullers, adding to their growing collection of previous titles.

The GB Rowing Team’s powerhouse men’s four added another international win to the European and world cup golds they have already won this season when they romped home in the Stewards’ Challenge Cup for men’s fours. Seasoned rowing observers have begun to pick this crew, coached by Jurgen Grobler, as a potential Rio Olympic winners. The four (are) Andrew Triggs Hodge, George Nash, Mohamed Sbihi and Alex Gregory....

By contrast the University of California, Berkeley, won the Ladies’ Challenge Plate for Intermediate men’s eights by just three feet in a bow-ball to bow-ball finishing sprint against Leander Club to the background noise of the famous “Remenham Roar” from the packed spectators.

Tideway Scullers’ School were disqualified during the final of the Wyfold Challenge Cup for men’s club fours. The verdict came from umpire Mike Williams after an early infringement along the enclosures and meant that Upper Thames Rowing Club won their second title of the day. The locally-based club had waited years for a first victory here and then two came together as they also won the Britannia Challenge Cup title in the opening race of the day.

Gloucester RC’s junior women’s quad recovered well from an early morning training scare – during which they broke their blades in a brush with a moored spectator boat – to win the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup for junior women’s quadruple sculls against Marlow RC. Marlow experienced some unsteady steering early in the race and recovered to chase but could not challenge the Gloucester quartet.

Scratch pairing Julien Bahain and Mitchel Steenman surprised even themselves by winning the final of the Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup for men’s pair from South Africa. Bahain flew in as a late substitute in this crew earlier this week.

It was tight, too, for much of the course between the British women’s eight, racing as Leander and Imperial College, and the their Dutch counterparts in the Remenham Challenge Cup. The British had the upperhand in the early part of the race with the margin fluctuating somewhere between a half and three-quarter length.

In the Grand Challenge Cup final for men’s eights the British national eight , stroked by Henley resident Will Satch, were also in the driving seat once they emerged from a closely fought contest to the Fawley landmark with the French national crew. They drew away to win in 6:15.

Eton College emerged from a very tight race to take the lead with 450m to go in their Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup final against St Edwards’ School from Oxford.

Stany Delayre (Bow) and Jérémie Azou (Stroke) return to the rafts followed by their defeated opposition, Collins and Walton.

Perhaps the honour of the stand-out crew, however, fell to Stany Delayre and Jeremie Azou, France’s lightweight double sculls, whose finishing speed was enough to see them win against the emerging British open double of John Collins and Jonny Walton in the Double Sculls Challenge Cup. In the afternoon session a collective shocked intake of breadth later accompanied those two finalists in that Double Sculls Challenge Cup for men as the crews moved past the grandstands. Not a hair’s breadth separated the crews before Delayre and Azou squeezed on to win. Azou said:

“There was just a moment in the second half where I thought that maybe we weren’t going to win, as nothing we could do could break them. Then with about 300m to go, I sensed an opportunity. The surge just took us in front and the drama continued right to the finish”.

It was Delayre and Azou that gave me an insight into what makes winners. I had spent the morning on the photographer's stand by the progress board, ten stroke from the finish. While this gives a great view of the racing, it is in the boat tent area, where the crews return after a race, that the ‘human interest’ lies. Thus, I spent the afternoon photographing the winners and non-winners returning to the pontoons and to their supporters – including the French double.

Stany Delayre (Bow) and Jérémie Azou (Stroke) are 2014 European Doubles Champions – but in lightweight. They weigh in at around 11 stone / 154 lbs / 70 kg. Their opposition today was 15 stone 1 lb / 211 lbs / 95 kgs and 14 stone 5 lbs / 201 lbs / 91 kgs. The eventual three-foot verdict in favour of the Frenchman took some time to come. Both doubles waited at the finish line for a period but Azou and Delayre decided to come into the pontoons. As they headed in, it was announced over the public address system that they had won. I was poised with my camera waiting for them to react to this news – but nothing happened. Equally strange, there was no one from their squad or any Henley official waiting for them and it soon became clear that they were so exhausted that they did not even try to get their bow side sculls over the dock and Delayre asked me to pull them in. As I did so, I kept repeating ‘You have won!’ and trying to think of how to say it in French (I decided that the informal ‘tu’ would be better than the more formal ‘vous’ but, importantly, I failed to come up with the word for ‘won’ – ‘tu as gagné’ the internet now tells me). However, it soon became clear that, even if I was fully certified by the Académie française, these boys had given their all and were not receiving messages in any language. I resorted to inane grinning and giving the ‘thumbs up’ sigh, hoping this did not mean something rude in France.

The Olympians and European Champions were so exhausted that they could not negotiate a landing.

Azou checks on his collapsed crewmate.

A slow recovery.

The message finally sunk in, but they were still too spent to give much reaction. They started to remove their sculls from the gates but, for what seemed like a long time, it was only my weight on stroke’s rigger that stopped them going swimming. They spent a long time lying on the pontoon, looking remarkably like two men who had just lost. And that, children, is what you need to become a champion.

Tu as gagné.

Our final Drink of the Day’ must be Champagne.

From the Stewards’ Cellars.

Leander release the fizz.

Mahe Drysdale swaps his water bottle for something stronger.

It tastes better out of one of these.

Read what the Telegraph's Rachel Quarrell wrote about the races on the final day here.

Henley Saturday, Day 4: Certain Victory For Some, Unexpected Defeat For Others

Elegance at the start.

Tim Koch writes from Henley:

An edited press release by Caroline Searle:

Andrew Triggs Hodge, George Nash, Mohamed Sbihi and Alex Gregory went largely unchallenged today to qualify for (Sunday's) final of the Henley Royal Regatta Stewards’ Challenge Cup for men’s fours.

The GB quartet, competing as a Molesey-Leander composite here and already European and world cup winners this season, had a length lead by the quarter-mile marker in their semi-final over the French national four. They lengthened this throughout the race and could ease off at the finish.

The GB boat now seem favourites to win tomorrow against the French national lightweight crew and the British crowd savoured the opportunity to catch a rare glimpse of them in action on home waters.

Olympic champions Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic and New Zealander Mahe Drysdale were semi-final winners in their respective single scull events. They now face Hungary’s Krisztina Gyimes and Holland’s Roel Braas in the  final respectively.

GB Olympic bronze medallist Alan Campbell found Roel Braas’ pace too hot to handle in the semi-finals today and was soon three lengths down. Braas went on to win in 7:44. Knapkova also won against British opposition in the shape of Olympic quadruple sculler Melanie Wilson.

“It was not my day today. I wasn’t firing on all cylinders. I felt alright before the race but once I got in I just didn’t have the beans”, said Campbell.

Just before the tea interval the GB women’s eight looked in good form as they beat the Australian national eight in the Remenham Challenge Cup. They now race the Dutch national eight competing here as Hollandia Roeiclub in the final on Sunday.

The GB Women’s Eight rowing as Leander Club and Imperial College London lead the National Training Centre, Australia, in the Remenham Challenge Cup (Women’s Open Eights).

Britain’s lightweight and open weight women’s quadruple sculls crews battled each other in the semi-final of the Princess Grace Challenge Cup with the open weights, featuring Olympian Beth Rodford, getting the upperhand.

The GB Rowing Team’s open weight double scull of John Collins and Jonny Walton, competing here as Leander Club, beat two top South African lightweights, John Smith and James Thompson. They now face the eye-catching French duo of Stany Delayre and Jeremie Azou in the final of the Double Sculls Challenge Cup.

Sam Townsend, Charles Cousins, Pete Lambert and Graeme Thomas from the GB quadruple sculls, racing here for Leander Club and Agecroft RC, were tested by Craftsbury Sculling Center from the USA before moving into Sunday’s final of the Queen Mother Challenge Cup.

St Edwards’ School, Oxford, were convincing winners against Hampton School in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup for schoolboy eights. In the opposing semi-final two big rival schools Abingdon and Eton College went head to head with Eton taking the honours and reversing the result of last year’s quarter-finals.

The results in full are on the official website.

Images from the penultimate day:

At the start for the Harvard v University of London race in the Visitors’ (Men's Intermediate Coxless Fours). London's ‘2’ man wonders if he can fly.

Harvard’s bow man breaks the first rule of the Henley start: Do not look down the course. It is said that you can see the curve of the earth. A guide to steering at Henley is here.

Harvard – UL approaching the end of the Island.

A promising start for UL but both crews are under scrutiny.

Harvard went onto win by 3/4 length in a time of 7.03.

Achtung Spitfire! In the afternoon there was a flypast by a Spitfire and a Hurricane from the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Amsterdam Students Nereus from what the normally pedantic Stewards insist on calling ‘Holland’ race Brown University, USA, in the Temple Challenge Cup (Student Men’s Eights). Appropriately they are passing The Temple.

Leander lead Oklahoma in their heat of the Visitors’.

Cornell pursue Oxford Brooks in the Temple. They are passing the ‘hole in the wall’ on the far bank. The ‘hole’ is an inlet crossed by a hump back bridge on land owned by Phyllis Court, a country club sited opposite the finish.

Umpire Richard Phelps has a fine collection of blazers. This one is from Latymer School. The silver badge signifies that he is a Steward of the Regatta.

A close race in the Ladies’ (Men’s Intermediate Eights). Leander Club and Molesey Boat Club lost to University of California, Berkley, USA, by 1/2 length.

A member of London RC shows how to move a boat standing up and facing forward.

In the Queen Mother, the race for Men’s Open Quads, there was an exciting battle between the French National Quad and the National Training Centre, Australia. The French led by a few feet off the start, the crews were level at Fawley (approximately half way) and then Australia went in front. They were level again at Remenham but by the Mile the Aussies led by a canvas and by 1/2 length at the Mile 1/8. They moved away at the Enclosures to win by 2 1/2 lengths.

As the Regatta goes on, so the Boat Tent empties as losing crews remove their boats.

The HTBS ‘Drink of the Day’ is the local brew, Brakspears Bitter. First brewed in Henley in 1779, sadly it has not been made in the brewery opposite the finish since 2002 (but it still tastes good). Note to foreigners – it is supposed to be served warm.

Henley Day 3, Friday: Brawn on the 4th July

Yank on Yank action on Independence Day. University of California, Berkley, USA, lead California Rowing Club and New York Athletic Club, USA, in a heat of the Ladies’ (which is not for ladies). The composite’s ‘7’ man was Jamie Koven, who is a Henley Steward.

The press office produced a nice quote from Alex Gregory of the GB Men’s Four:

I’m really looking forward to getting out and racing here. It’s a unique course, there’s nothing like it in the world. There are so many things to contend with - the wind, stream, the wooden booms. If you crash into one of those you’re finished. It’s just quite exciting. Then you have the crowd right on top of you. I’d say that, apart from the Olympics at Dorney Lake, there’s nothing like racing at Henley.

Good links: Rachel Quarrell’s Friday report for the Telegraph is here and the official HRR website has results, and a webcam which refreshes every 15 seconds during racing hours.

This is an edited version of the Friday press release by Caroline Searle:

Olympic single scull Champions Mahe Drysdale and Mirka Knapkova are safely through their first round races at Henley Royal Regatta. New Zealander Drysdale won by an official “easily” verdict over his compatriot George Bridgwater in the Diamond Challenge Sculls – the latter making a comeback after a long lay-off since winning Olympic bronze in another boat class in 2008. In the same event Alan Campbell of Tideway Scullers’ School was amongst the first British squad members to race at this year’s Regatta. The new father – his daughter was born only a couple of weeks ago – won comfortably. He now races the in form Dutchman Roel Braas for the right to face Drysdale or Australian Nick Purnell in Sunday’s final. Knapkova, in the Princess Royal Challenge Cup, was beaten off the start by Gabriella Rodriguez of Marlow Boat Club but caught her swiftly and went on to win by several lengths. Polish Olympic medallist Julia Michalska Plotkowiak, who now lives in London, has also come out of retirement to race here at the 175th Anniversary event and opened her account with a win also in the Princess Royal Challenge Cup.

Alan Campbell of Tideway Scullers’ School (which is actually not a school).

Elsewhere other GB Rowing Team crews from the national squad were in action. The British men’s double sculls of John Collins and Jonny Walton, who won their opening race today, know the Henley Reach stretch of water well as they are from nearby Leander Club.

The British women’s eight, racing as Leander and Imperial College, were not tested by a combined Dutch and British student crew but a development GB crew were not so lucky. They drew the Australian national crew in the opening round and came off second best by over four lengths.

Alan Sinclair and Scott Durant, who are a GB pair, won their opening race against club opposition in the Silver Goblets for men’s pairs. The two GB women’s quads – one open and one lightweight – were scheduled to race in today’s evening session (both won).

Some river traffic not normally found at international regattas.

German crews also had a good day on Henley Reach. They recorded three wins – in the Britannia Challenge Cup against Nottingham R.C, in the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup against local club Henley R.C. and against Molesey B.C. in the Thames Challenge cup.

In the opening race of the morning Zee Club Zürich got the better of Molesey BC in a re-row of their Visitors’ Challenge Cup race from last night which had resulted in a remarkable dead heat. Zee Club went on to race Oklahoma City River Sport in the early evening session. (Oklahoma won).

Here is my more visual coverage of some of Friday’s activities:

Delayre and Azou (European Lwt 2x Champions) of Club France lead Gong and Long of Shanghai Jiao University, China, in the Double Sculls Challenge Cup and won by 3 1/2 lengths.

A sporting gesture from Long to Delayre and Azou. The Frenchmen were approximately 70kgs each, the Chinese were approximately 100kgs and 95kgs.

The Princess Elizabeth (Junior Men’s Eights) always seems to produce good racing. Here Brunswick School, USA, on the left, race Hampton School from near London. They are at the ‘Progress Board’, which is ten strokes from the finish. Hampton had led by a quarter of a length, but they were overtaken at the Mile and only regained the lead in the last few strokes.

Hampton and Brunswick at the finish. I have criticised schoolboys for overacting but I think Hampton’s display may be justified.

Brunswick feel the pain.

Leander catches a crab during its race with Westminster School in the Fawley Challenge Cup (Junior Men’s Quads).

Tideway Scullers’ School’s Britannia Challenge Cup Crew (Club Coxed Fours) prepares to boat. They are led out by Henley Steward, Sir David Wootton, who was the 684th Lord Mayor of London, 2011 - 2012.

Frankfurter Rudergesellschaf Germania Von 1869 E.V., Germany, seem happy with their win over Molesey in a heat of the Thames Cup (Men’s Club Eights).

Gloucester Rowing Club and Northwich Rowing Club winning their heat of the Princess Grace (Women’s Open Quads).

Radley Mariners feel the strain as they lose to Sydney Rowing Club, Australia, in a heat of the ‘Brit’.

More good racing in the Princess Elizabeth. The small St Edward’s School Boat Club (‘Teddies’) convincingly beats the more prestigious (‘Ra, Ra’) Radley Boat Club.

Club France beat Hollandia Roeiclub by 1 1/4 lengths in the Queen Mother Challenge Cup (Men’s Open Quads).

Leander take it home in a heat of the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup (Men’s Intermediate Quads).

A briefing session in the nearest thing to privacy in the boating area.

Umpire Michael Williams flags a clean race.

This swan was removed from the course for his own safety – and because he was not wearing a tie. A former member of Cygnet Rowing Club?

The evening shadows lengthen as the day draws to an end.

Today's 'Drink Of The Day' is Pimm's, the quintessential Henley Royal Regatta libation.