Another record breaking weekend for BROOKES|Rowing

This weekend saw the Brookes Women get their first taste of the racing stretch at Henley Women’s Regatta. With a total of 26 women racing across the three day event, Brookes had a number of athletes competing with hopes of success after an excellent summer of racing.

A large amount of preparation has gone towards regaining the Academic VIIIs trophy this season. With some prolific performances throughout the weekend, Brookes drew Durham in the Final. Having broken the course record in the Semi-Final, Brookes powered out of the blocks and continued to build their lead to take a great victory. This result emerging from a hugely talented 2nd VIII, ultimately shows the strength and development of the women’s team this season.

Brookes had several other crews competing through the weekend – The Championship VIII drew Thames Rowing Club in the first round. In challenging conditions, Thames took a length out of the island and despite Brookes’ best efforts they were unable to overturn the deficit. The Academic Four and Championship Quad made the Saturday displaying impressive strength and skill. Some useful experience for the entire group who will look to build upon these results for next season.

In the meantime, Brookes were looking to retain several of the pennants that were won in stylish fashion a year ago at Marlow International. In the Men’s Championship VIIIs, Brookes stormed to victory with a time of 5:33.2 in blustery conditions, winning by nearly 10 seconds. Brookes 2nd VIII narrowly lost out on 3rd place by just over a second. In Championship Coxed Fours, Brookes claimed 1st and 3rd in one of the most exciting races of the day. The Championship 4-, had a great tussle with a Leander/Thames composite losing out by half a length. Brookes also came away with the Tier 2 University VIII Pennant.

Brookes turn their attention towards Henley Royal Regatta which starts 28th June. A number of crews will attend the hotly contested Henley Qualifiers this Friday. If you are interested in joining the Brookes squad in the future, please reach out to the coaching team over the course of the regatta.
Photos courtesy of AllMarkOne