Metropolitan Regatta Report

This weekend saw the full Brookes squad racing at the Metropolitan Regatta, which took place at Dorney Lake and provided the squad with good racing against British crews who will be opposition at both Henley Womens Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta in the coming weeks. 

In the Men’s Championship Eights, Brookes fielded 5 eights, of which 3 made the A Final to face crews including Leander Club and Molesey Boat Club. The Ladies Plate crew controlled the race throughout, being the fastest crew in every 500. They took the victory by just under a length over our Temple Cup crew, who pushed them hard and finished a length up on Leander. The two Brookes crews finished with the fastest times in all three races, showing good speed and consistency heading into the final build up for Henley Royal Regatta.

In the Women’s Championship Eights, the Academic Eight for HWR raced a number of crews also beginning to build towards Henley Women’s, which takes place from 21-23 June. A strong time trial saw the crew finishing top, and following a straightforward semi final, the crew lined up against Leander Club for the final. A quick Leander start saw them take a small lead, which remained throughout the race- the final verdict being just over a second- both crews having a comfortable margin over the rest of the field. 

The Men’s Championship Coxed Fours event contained a number of crews aiming for the Prince Albert and Britannia Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. Brookes had two crews racing, and despite a strong entry managed to take the top two spots. 

There were two women’s coxless fours racing- one in Championship and the other in Band 2. A tough battle throughout saw the championship crew finish 2nd behind the University of London. In Band 2, the crew took a clear water margin early on in the race and held throughout to take a convincing victory. 

In the smaller boats, two women’s pairs raced with the crew of Aly Vogelzang and Ella Morgan finishing in third place in their final. The men’s pair of Chris Tebb and Barney Fox came from behind to take the victory having both raced in the coxed fours earlier in the day. 

Despite only attending the regatta for one day, the strong performances of the Brookes crews meant they were awarded the Victor Ludorum for most successful club at the regatta.

The club next races at the British Championships and Reading Regatta in just over a week’s time- which will be the last race for all crews before the final race of the season at Henley. 

📸 All Images Courtesy of AllMarkOne