Seun and Izzy pictured at Henley Royal Regatta with the New Zealand crew
Exeter University Boat Club (EUBC) flying the flag at Henley Royal Regatta
One of the most prestigious competitions in rowing, Henley Royal Regatta offers the opportunity for University of Exeter rowers to compete against some of the best crews in the world.
The men’s first eight competed in the Temple Challenge Cup, having successfully prequalified for the main draw (based on good prior results) for the second year in a row. Meeting a very strong Cornell University A who were the reigning American lightweight national champions, having come off the back of an undefeated domestic season, Exeter did themselves proud and put out a strong performance against a top quality boat, despite being beaten.
The women's double of Seun Olusanya and Issy Lingard made history in their debut in this event, in its flagship year. Despite coming together relatively late in the season they made great progress in training and were in fine form heading into Henley. With only 8 crews in the main draw qualifying for this event was a huge achievement in itself, with several senior national crews also represented. Being drawn against the New Zealand national double, who have won the last two world cups and are favourites for the World Championships was a huge challenge but Seun and Issy put up a great fight and fell just short of beating one of the best crews in the world. Reflecting on the regatta Seun commented “It was a fantastic experience to race against one of the best crews in the world and the experience is something myself and Issy hope will help us develop our rowing in the future”. Seun has also been selected to attend a GB development rowing camp in August.
Concluding Henley Royal Regatta with the annual Alumni Picnic, which was the best attended it has been in recent years, was a fitting end to a brilliant week of rowing and formed an excellent chance to gather current and previous EUBC members together.
Absent from Henley due to international racing commitments was University of Exeter Sports Scholar Susannah Duncan who competed in an international regatta in Amsterdam for the GB Rowing Team in preparation for the U23 World Championships taking place 18th-23rd July. Susannah was part of the women’s lightweight quad and racing alongside students from University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and Oxford Brookes University who made the A final and finished in 5th place against some top quality crews.
Having won multiple medals at BUCS and with several club members striving for international honours, EUBC rounds off another successful season and looks forward to some hard winter training.
Date: 27 July 2017