Its that time of year again…Henley Royal Regatta….the best regatta in the world!

The 2018 edition of the Henley Royal Regatta will see the third-largest entry on record, with 565 boats divided up into 454 domestic and 111 overseas crews.

So, as always it’s time for me to cast my eye over the entries and give a guide (and maybe an opinion and prediction or two) to the entries. Starting with the men’s open events.

The Diamond Challenge Sculls

Holder: Matt Dunham (Waiariki Rowing Club, New Zealand)

23 entries to be reduced to 12 by Qualifying races

Mahe Drysdale of West End Rowing Club and New Zealand starts his 8th Diamonds – he’s won 5 of them and if he takes the title this year he will equal the record set by Australian Stuart Mackenzie of Sydney who won every year between 1957 and 1962. But, it’s not been a great year for the double Olympic champion. His seat in the Kiwi team is under extreme pressure from Robbie Manson who has beaten Mahe every time they’ve raced this year. It’s entirely possible that Henley could be Mahe’s last hurrah and if he wins there could be no finer way of bowing out than by equalling a record that has stood for 56 years.

Standing in Mahe’s way is Kjetil Borch. The Norwegian Olympic silver medallist partnered the legendary Olaf Tufte in the M2X in Rio and was World Champion in the M2X with Nils Jakob Hoff in 2013. For the 2018 season he’s switched to the single scull and finished 4th in the A-Final at the Linz World Cup.

The leading domestic challenger is likely to be Charlie Cousins – racing for Griffen Boat Club. Charlie is a former World Silver medallist from the GB M4X in 2014. He stepped down from the international team at the end of 2015 due to injury and had, seemingly, retired and is now a coach at Abingdon School. But with some impressive erg scores during the winter he made a return to the single scull this season. So far he’s unbeaten on the domestic circuit with wins at Wallingford, The Metropolitan Regatta and Marlow Regatta in an impressive time of 6:53. Could we be seeing a return to the national team for GB’s top single sculler of 2014?

Another strong overseas challenger will be Tom Graves of the Craftsbury Sculling Centre USA. Graves is a Henley regular, and has made the final no fewer than three times in the Queen Mother, the Double sculls and, last year, the Diamonds. But he’s yet to win one of those precious little red boxes.

Another former GB teamster is Jamie Kirkwood. He was GB’s leading lightweight single sculler in 2014 and 2015 and made the A-Final at the World Championships in the LM1X in 2015. He retired from international rowing in 2016 and took up a coaching position with the Oxford University Women’s Boat Club. He raced at Marlow Regatta finishing 3rd.

Runner-up to Cousins at Marlow was Clydesdale’s Jack Burns. That performance caught the eye of the Stewards and meant he is one of just seven scullers to pre-qualify. He competed at the final GB Trials in April finishing 11th. At the Metropolitan Regatta in May he finished 4th.

The final pre-selected sculler is Portugal’s Nuno Mendes. The 34 year-old has been on the international circuit since 2004, the majority of the time in the LM2X with Pedro Fraga. They raced together at the Beijing and London Olympics, placing 5th in London.

It’s not often we see the Tufte among those required to qualify, but it’s not double Olympic champion Olaf, but Petter Tufte. He was a member of the Norske Studenten Rokllub , Oslo Thames Cup 8 that made the final in 2016 and lost to Thames on Friday last year. He’s also won gold at the Norwegian championships.

Another Henley stalwart is Hugh Mackworth-Praed of Auriol Kensington. The 46 year old made his Henley debut in 1985 and has been competing (or trying to qualify) pretty much every year since! He last made the regatta main draw in 2015.

Another strong contender for qualification is Sam Bannister of Cardiff University. He’s a member of the Welsh High Performance squad and produced a strong performance at Marlow to finish 4th.

Finishing one place behind Bannister at Marlow was York University’s Calder Trewin Marshall. He also took 2nd in the Tier 2 sculls at the Metropolitan Regatta.

My picks….I’ve got to go with Mahe for a record equalling 6th Diamond Sculls, but I’d love to see Charlie Cousins make the final and give him a run for his money.

The Grand Challenge Cup

Holders: Passau & Treviris Trier, Germany

3 entries

This year The Grand is a Great Britain v Australia v Romania affair. I would expect the British, racing as Leander Club & Molesey, to be the selected crew and receive a bye to the final with the Australians (Georgina Hope Rinehart National Training Centre) taking on the Romanians (Clubul Sportiv Dinamo, Bucharest and Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua, Bucharest) for the right to take on the home favourites.

The Leander Club & Molesey crew is unchanged from the line-up that raced at the Linz World Cup taking silver behind the Germans. The crew contains three Olympic champions from Rio, Will Satch at stroke, Mo Sbihi at 5 and Tom Ransley at bow. Also in the boat is Olympian Al Sinclair and 2017 World Bronze medallist Matt Tarrant along with Tom’s George and Jeffery who raced as the GB M2- at last year’s World Championship where they finished 5th. The final member of the crew is Ollie Wynne-Griffith. The Yale graduate was an U23 silver medallist in 2016 and made his senior debut last season at the Lucerne world Cup and then subbing-in to the M4- for the semi-final at the World Championships. The crew are steered by Henry Fieldman.

The Australians produced a bit of a shock at the Linz world Cup sending the German world Champions to the repecharge. In the final they couldn’t reproduce that feat and ended up 5th . But, the crew entered for Henley is a little different to that which raced in Linz. According to the entry documents, the Australians are bringing in their outstanding M4- into the 8 with Josh Hicks, Spencer Turin, Jack Hargreaves and Alex Hill joining Angus Moore, Josh Booth, Nick Purnell and Tim Masters. The M4- were clear winners in Linz and their inclusion in the M8 makes them a fearsome combination. It remains to be seen if Australia continue with this line-up or go with the line-up that raced in Linz (which had Liam Donald, Angus Widdicombe, Simon Keenan and Rob Black.

Romania raced at the Belgrade World Cup taking the bronze behind the Germans and British. They’ve made one change to the crew that raced in Belgrade, with Adrian Damii replacing Florin-Sorin Lehaci in the 2 seat. Damii raced in the 8 last season that finished 5th at the world Championships, as did crew mates Constantin Radi, Constantin Adam, Sergiu-Vasile Bejan and Cristi-Ilie Pirghie. Bow-man Vlad-Dragos Aicoboae raced in the M2- at the 2017 World Championships that won the B-Final and also won a silver medal at the European Championships in the M4-. The final two members of the crew are aa pair of medal-winning U23 athletes, Alexandru Martinca at 3 and 21 year-old strokeman Alexandru-Cosmin Macovei.

My picks…if the Aussies go with the line-up they have listed then there could be some serious fireworks against the British, but I’m going to plump for a narrow home win.

The Stewards Challenge Cup

Holders: Leander Club & Molesey

2 entries

A straight, and all-British Final sees one of the senior GB M4-‘s take on the likely GB U23 M4-. The Seniors, racing as Leander Club, raced as GBR2 at the Linz World Cup finishing 4th (1 place ahead of their teammates in GBR1). The crew is James Johnston, Adam Neill, Jacob Dawson and Tom Ford. They take on the U23’s (racing as Leander Club and Oxford University) with Felix Drinkall, Tom Digby, Charlie Elwes and Leonard Jenkins. One would imagine that this would be a relatively straightforward win for the seniors, but I think it’ll be a lot closer than that. Digby, Elwes and Jenkins all row together at Yale and were members of the outstanding Yale Varsity crew that won the IRA’s this year. Digby and Elwes were in this event last year and took the scalp of the senior French M4- before going down to the Italians (who went on to win silver at the world Championships) by just 2/3 length. Digby and Elwes went on to win silver at the U23 World Championships. Leonard Jenkins represented New Zealand as a junior but is now GB qualified. Oxford University’s Felix Drinkall who has just been elected as President of the Oxford University Boat Club for the 2019 season. He won the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup with Eton in 2016 and went on to become Junior World Champion in 2017. He finished 2nd at the final GB Trials in April partnering senior GB oarsman Ollie Cook. With Digby and Drinkall still teenagers and Jenkins and Elwes only 20 this is an outstanding young crew and features athletes who could become mainstays of the British team for the Paris Olympiad.

The senior Leander crew will be wary of their young opposition, but they will be confident of victory, they are all experienced Henley winners and are looking to secure their position as the selected GB M4- Johnston made his senior debut last year racing in a 2nd GBR M4- that finished 10th at Lucerne. This season he’s still racing as a member of the 2nd GBR M4- and has two A-final finishes so far. Adam Neil’s international career started later than expected due to a serious back injury but he returned in 2016, winning the Ladies Plate with Leander and winning the GB Indoor Championships. This return to form saw him win selection for the GB M8 for 2017. Washington graduate, Jacob Dawson, was selected as the GB M2- with Matt Rossiter and they won gold at the 1st World Cup in 2017. He then moved into the GB M8 that finished 7th at the World Championships. Tom Ford also raced in the Leander crew that won the Ladies Plate in 2016, and won his first senior international vest in the M8 in Belgrade. He moved to the M2- for Lucerne winning silver and then the M2+ for the world Championships, just missing out on a medal.

It promises to be a really interesting battle between these two boats, but I think the senior crew from Leander will just take it over their U23 counterparts – but not by much.

The Queen Mother Challenge Cup

Holders: Leander Club

2 entries

Another straight final (as was 2017). This year sees the British M4X (racing as Leander Club and Agecroft) take on the Norwegians of Fana Roklubb.

The British quad of Tom Barras, John Collins, Jonny Walton and Graeme Thomas were winners in Belgrade at the 1st World Cup. In Linz they had a disastrous regatta missing out on the A-final. Chief Coach Jurgen Grobler could find no reason for the disappointing performance and just put it down to a bad day at the office. They will be looking to recapture their mojo with a win on their home water. Collins and Walton raced together in the M2X at the Rio Olympics finishing 5th. For the 2017 they both moved into the quad and won silver at the World Championships. Graeme Thomas was a member of the M4X throughout 2016 before cruelly falling ill just before the start of the Games. He missed a large part of the 2017 season following hip surgery but returned to row in the M2X with Angus Groom that finished 7th. But, a last-minute injury to Pete Lambert saw Thomas jumping into the stroke seat of the quad just minutes before the start of the final. He stroked and steered the quad to an outstanding silver medal. The 4th member of the crew is Tom Barras – a qualified physiotherapist, he made his senior debut at the start of the 2017 season racing in the quad at the 1st world Cup and European Championships before moving to the M1X. A great 1st performance at the 2nd World Cup saw him place 5th and then 13th in a tough field in Lucerne. At the World Championships in Sarasota however he really made the world sit up and take notice when he took the bronze medal behind Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic and Cuba’s Angel Fournier Rodriguez.

Facing the British are the Norwegians of Fana Rokllub. Martin Helseth, Erik Solbakken, Jan Oscar Stabe Helvig and Nils Jakob Hoff. This is the line-up that raced at the World Championships last season finishing 6th in the A-Final. For the 2018 season Hoff was replaced at the first 2 World Cups by the great Olaf Tufte and they won bronze at the 1st World Cup. Hoff finished 11th in the M1X at the Rio Olympics and was World Champion in the M2X back in 2013. 22 year-old Helvig made his senior debut at the European Championships in 2015 and went on to win silver at the U23 World Championships and place 14th at the Senior Worlds that year. Solbakken also made his senior debut in 2015 and was a crewmate of Helvig’s in the M4X at the Europeans and World Championships. In 2016 he and crewmate Martin Helseth won silver in the BM2X at the U23 World Championships

This “should” be a comfortable victory for the British, the Norwegians haven’t beaten the British quad (although they got within 1/10th second at the 2017 Europeans). If GB row to their usual level thy will take the win.

The Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup

Holders: Theophile Onfroy and Valentin Onfroy Club France

18 entries (to be reduced to 12 by qualifying races)

The big names in this event are the Sinkovic brothers, Martin and Valent, of CARC Mladost, Croatia. They were the dominant force in the M2X throughout the Rio Olympiad, becoming the first M2X to break the 6 minute barrier at the 2014 World Championships. They topped off an outstanding career in the double by winning gold at the Rio Olympics. In 2017 they decided to try a new challenge and switched to the M2- with the intention of winning gold in Tokyo. They haven’t been as successful in the pair as they were in the double. They came close in 2017 taking silver at the World Championships and so far this season they won their first gold medal as a pair when they won in Belgrade. They suffered a setback in Linz when they were outclassed by the Czech Republic and just managed to pip the French (who are the defending Henley Champions) for the silver.

One of the main challengers for the Croatians are Marius-Vasile Cozmiuc and Ciprian Tudosa of Clubul Sportiv Dinamo Bucharest & Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua Bucharest, Romania. They raced at the Belgrade World Cup finishing 4th. In 2017 they were members of the M4- that won silver at the European Championships and then moved into the M8 that finished 5th at the World Championships. Cozmiuc represented Romania in the M4- at the Rio Olympics and Tudosa is a former Junior World Champion and U23 silver medallist.

One crew that’ll be itching to have a crack at their international rivals are James Rudkin and Josh Bugajski (racing As Newcastle University and Oxford University). They were both members of the GB M8 that won silver at the 1st World Cup and then moved to the M2- for the 2nd World Cup in Linz. A strong heat saw them finish 2nd to the Croatians and then they produced an excellent row to win the Repecharge only to be relegated to last due to an underweight boat – something that has never happened to the senior GB team before (and no-one really knows how it happened). In the end they had to race in the D-Final, (which they won by 11 seconds) taking 19th overall. It was yet another chapter in the saga of Josh Bugajski season – he was dropped from the Oxford Blue Boat just days before the race, but then won his place in the senior GB team and won his first senior medal in Belgrade.

There is another crew from the senior GB team racing, Harry Glenister and George Rossiter representing Leander. They raced at the 1st World Cup finishing 7th and then moved into the GB M4- for the 2nd World Cup taking 5th. Glenister made a bit of History at Henley last year when he became the first man (by 2 hours) to win all three quad events (The Fawley in 2013, The Queen Mother in 2016, and the Prince of Wales in 2017). Rossiter is a double Henley medallist (the Ladies Plate in 2016 and the Visitors in 2017) and made his senior debut in the GB team this year.

Hungary’s Adrian Juhasz and Bela Simon Jr (Penzugyor Sportegyesulet) are one of the most experienced M2- on the international circuit having been rowing together since 2009 (becoming U23 silver medallists that year). Their best performances as a coxless pair were in 2016 when they became European Champions and then qualified for the Rio Olympics where they placed 9th. For the 2017 World Championships they moved into the coxed pair and won a fantastic race overhauling Australia in the final quarter (covering the final 500m 7 seconds faster than the Aussies). With the event now being dropped from the World Championship programme they will forever be the reigning World Champions! For the 2018 season they are back in the M2- having a great race in Linz reaching their 1st world Cup A final for 3 years.

Australia haven’t won the Silver Goblets since Luxford and Shinners of Sydney University in 1976. This year they have Campbell Watts and Angus Widdicombe (Georgina Hope Rinehart National Training Centre). Watts made his debut in the senior Australian team in 2017 racing in the M8 at the Poznan World Cup and then the World Championships. For 2018 he was named as the spare for the World Cup series and raced in the M1X in Linz finishing 14th. Widdicombe also made his senior debut in 2017 in the M8 at the Poznan World Cup. For the World Championships he moved to the M2+ – the crew that were overhauled by the Hungarians after leading by clear water with 500m to go! (a rematch between the Aussies and Hungarians in a match race on the Henley course would be fun to watch).

One of the crews I’m really excited to see are the Cambridge University and Leander Club pairing of Rob Hurn and Sholto Carnegie. Both of these guys rowed together at Yale winning the Ladies Plate at Henley in 2015 (beating arch rivals the University of Washington in the final). Hurn and Carnegie raced in the Stewards Challenge Cup last season (with Tom Digby and Charlie Elwes) that beat the French senior M4- before losing narrowly to the Italians. They went on to win silver at the U23 World Championships. Carnegie stroked the Yale Varsity to an outstanding season this year winning both the IRA Championships and the Harvard v Yale race. They are both looking to gain selection for the senior GB team and there is a rumour they will be racing in GB colours at Lucerne.

Another pre-qualified crew are the Leander pairing of Seb Devereux and Jacob Barker. Devereux has multiple Henley medals to his name and in 2017 became U23 World Champion in the BM2X with Sam Meijer. Devereux studied in the US, initially at the University of Washington (with whom he won the IRA Championships) before transferring to Temple University. The highlight of the season for Temple was winning Varsity 8’s at the Dad Vail Regatta. Temple have made the trip to Henley and are racing in their namesake event, but without their top oarsman who is ineligible. Barker is Canadian, and attends Boston University. He raced in the Visitors Challenge Cup with Boston in 2017 losing on the Friday to the eventual winners from Leander. In 2016 he represented Canada at the U23 World Championships finishing 9th in the BM4+

One crew that can perhaps consider themselves unlucky at having been asked to qualify are the French, Franck Solforosi and Alexis Guerniot (Aviron Nautique de Lyon and Cercle de L’aviron de Lyon). Solforosi is an Olympic bronze medallist in the LM4- at the Rio Olympics and Guerniot won World Championship gold in the LM2- in 2016 and a World Championship silver in the LM8 in 2015. Solforosi rowed at three Olympics and has numerous World and European medals to his credit in a career that stretches back to 2004. They must surely be one of the favourites to secure a qualifying spot.

Another crew who will expect to qualify are the Leander pairing of lightweights Ed Fisher and Jon Jackson. They won at Marlow (in a very fast time of 6:37.8) and were also members of the Leander quad that won in Ghent. They both rowed together in the U23 BLM4- in 2016 that won a bronze medal. Fisher went on to make his senior international debut in 2017 winning a silver medal in the LM4X at the Senior World Championships.

Runners-up to Leander at Marlow were the Thames Rowing Club pairing of Nick Pusinelli and James Palmer. Palmer was a member of the Thames crew that won the Thames Cup in 2015 and Kiwi Pusinelli rowed for New Zealand at the 2011 World Championships and was a winner at Henley in the Visitors Challenge cup in 2016.

David Ambler and Freddie Davidson (Tideway Scullers and Cambridge University) look to be the GB U23 M2-. Ambler is a student at Harvard making the Varisty 8 in his Freshman year in 2017. In 2018 he formed an all-St Paul’s School stern pair in the Crimson Varsity boat with Arthur Doyle and finished 4th at the IRA’s. He raced for Great Britain in the U23 BM8 last year winning a bronze medal. Davidson is a two-time winning Blue and also raced for GB at the U23 World Championships last year finishing 6th in the BM2-.

Other crews trying to qualify include Charlie Buchanan and Nick Elkington (1884 Club) who both raced for Isis this year, Melbourne University pair Tom Page and James Heath (3rd at Marlow). Giovanni Galavotti and Michael Cannon of Vesta. Peter Jacobs and Will Sadler of Upper Thames and Mark Mitchell and Kieren White of Bexhill Amateur Rowing Club.

My picks….The Croatians should win this, but match racing at Henley can throw up some surprises. I think the GB pairing of Bugajksi and Rudkin could give them a serious run for their money.

Double Sculls Challenge Cup

Holders: J.W Storey and C.W. Harris, New Zealand

17 entries. To be reduced to 12 by qualifying races

This has all the makings of a classic Heavyweight v Lightweight battle (and Henley’s seen a few of those in the past). Favourites for the event will be the Leander pairing of Jack Beaumont and Angus Groom. They are the current GB M2X and are in a rich vein of form. They produced a superb scull at the Linz World Cup to take the gold. Beaumont was the youngest member of the GB team at the Rio Olympics when he Joined Groom as a late substitution in the M4X that finished 5th. He and Groom raced together as juniors at the Junior World Championships in 2010 and then reunited at U23 level in 2013 and 2014 (winning a bronze in the BM2X). Injury sidelined Groom at the start of the 2017 season but he returned in time for the World Championships finishing 7th in the M2X with Graeme Thomas (also recently recovered from injury). Beaumont was a regular in the M4X in 2017 winning gold at the Poznan World Cup and silver at the World Championships. 2018 sees Groom and Beaumont reunited in the M2X. At the time of selection, Beaumont himself saw this as something of a sideways move out of the quad, but the performances he and Groom have shown so far this season (silver in Belgrade and gold in Linz) makes it look more like a step-up. Beaumont has already won 4 of the 5 sculling events at Henley (The Fawley, Prince of Wales, Queen Mother and Double Sculls), I’d be willing to put money on him winning the Diamond Sculls at some point in his career to become the first man to win every sculling event at the Regatta!

The main challengers to Beaumont and Groom is likely to come from two outstanding lightweight doubles. Paul and Gary O’Donovan of Skibberreen Rowing Club of Ireland, and Kristoffer Brun and Are Strandli of Bergens Roklub Norway. The O’Donovan’s are the Olympic silver medallists and are some of rowing’s biggest personalities. They first raced together on the world stage at the 2015 European Championship where they finished 5th. But it was the 2016 season where they really made their mark with a silver medal at the 1st World Cup and then gold at the European Championships, they also made the A-Finals at the 2nd and 3rd World Cups. Their highpoint was the Rio Olympics where they “pulled like dogs” to win the silver medal and won the hearts of millions around the world with the brilliant post-race interviews. 2017 was less successful with Gary suffering from illness which ruled him out of the World Championships, brother Paul raced the LM1X winning gold in Sarasota. They’ve started 2018 with a bronze medal at the Belgrade World Cup, funding issues meant they had to miss the Linz World Cup but will be at Henley and promise to be one of the crowd favourites.

Kristoffer Brun and Are Strandli finished 1 place behind the Irish at the Rio Olympics in bronze medal position. They have been racing together as a LM2X since the European Championships in 2007. Their first medal came at the Munich World Cup in 2010 (which was also their first A-Final appearance). 9th at the 2011 World Championships saw them qualify for the London Olympics where they ended 9th. That performance in London spurred them on and during the Rio Olympiad they became regular A-Final finishers and medallists in 2013 culminating in a gold medal at the World Championships. The Norwegians are familiar with the podium as they won bronze medals at the 2014 and 2015 Worlds, the 2015 Europeans and at 2 World Cups. 2016 saw them move up a step to silver at the World Cups before just being pipped by the Irish in Rio to win yet another bronze.

Another strong crew are Ioan Prundeanu and Marian-Florian Enache of Romania. They raced together at the World championships in Florida finishing 10th. Prundeanu was junior World Champion in 2011 and made his senior debut the year later. Enache is also a Junior World medallist and made his senior debut in 2017. These two first raced together in the M2X at the Lucerne World Cup last season finishing 11th. They raced at the Belgrade World Cup reaching their first senior A-Final finishing 5th.

Another crew that has pre-qualified are the former GB team members Tom Solesbury and Dan Ritchie (racing as Thames Rowing Club and Herne Bay Rowing Club). Solesbury made his international debut in 2006 racing in the M8 finishing the season in 5th. For the Beijing Olympics he raced in the M2- with Robin Bourne-Taylor finishing 13th. He won a Boat Race Blue with Oxford in 2009 In 2011 He moved to the sculling team in as part of a strong M4X ending up 5th at the London Olympics. He stepped back from the international team after the Olympics founding his own law firm specialising in sports and employment law. His partner for Henley, Dan Ritchie, last raced internationally at the 2014 World Cup in Aiguebelette. He started his senior career in 2008 and won his first senior medal at the Munich World Cup in 2009. In 2010 he was a member of the GB M8 that won silver at the World Championships and repeated the feat in 2011. Injury meant he missed the London Olympics but he returned in 2013 to win his one and only World Championship gold medal as a member of the M8 in 2013. Since retiring from the senior GB team he had a spell as director of Rowing at Fulham Boys School, before moving into the business world as a consultant and researcher. They warmed up for Henley with a win in Championship Doubles at Marlow Regatta. It’s great to see two former stalwarts of the British team back on the water.

The 2nd Norwegian crew competing are Erling Oeyasaeter and Jorgen Nilsson. This pairing raced at the Linz World Cup finishing last of the 13 boats. Both were making their senior debuts at the World Cup having raced together on the Norwegian U23 team in 2016.

My picks….should be a good win for Beaumont and Groom. I hope the draw gives us a showdown between the Irish and Norwegian lightweights…that’ll be fun to watch!

Next up, the Women’s Open events…