Grosvenor rowing club sent two crews to the prestigious Henley women's regatta and reached the final in the club eights event.
This is the premier event for women's rowing in the country held over 1500 m of the famous Henley Royal regatta course.
The event last for three days, starting with time trials on Friday morning. Culminating with the finals on Sunday afternoon.
The Senior quad crew of Sarah Turner, Lucy Iball, Tanith Allwood were competing for the Chairman’s Trophy
While the Intermediate Club eight of Angela Sheldon, Siobhan Barnard, Jess Hulson, Lowri Stubbs, Helen Rowland, Laura Champion, Charlotte Gill, Cathryn Jones and Jenna Burrows (cox) raced for the Invesco Perpetual Challenge Cup.
Each event is contested by 16 crews over four races.
Time trials are held before the side by side racing begins. These processional races rank the competitors in speed order. Slower crews are eliminated, so only the fastest 16 boats remain.
Both crews successfully negotiated the time trial and moved on to the heats.
The quad raced Reading University C and won with. Comfortable 3 length verdict.
The eight had a slightly more challenging contest with City of Cambridge. The margin of victory was ⅔ of a length.
Saturday’s races pitched the quad against Reading University A crew. While the eight were up against Staines.
The eight put in a better and more controlled performance, coming out with a 1 ¾ length win.
Sadly, the quad were beaten by a very strong Reading crew.
The four Grosvenor girls were tired but happy and decided it was now appropriate to crack open the Prosecco
Sunday brought a semi final match against Agecroft in what was arguably one of the most exciting races of the regatta.
The contest was neck a neck over the 1500 m course. Grosvenor pushed back from a ¼ length down to produce the tightest finish of the weekend. After much deliberation and review of video footage, the race officials could not separate the two boats. A dead heat was declared. In these situations, the race is rerowed after a very short rest period.
The repeat performance was again very close. But this time, Grosvenor showed excellent technique and composure. The girls opened a slender advantage and Agecroft could not get back in terms.
The verdict in the rerow was ¼ length victory to Grosvenor.
The event organisers decided to delay the final to give our crew time to recover.
Despite the extra rest, the final was won by a talented Tideway Scullers crew
Coaches and supporters were immensely proud of the achievement. This is the first time Grosvenor has reached the final in an eight.
The commentator was heard to say.
"Someone up in Chester is doing something very right "