DUBC had set their sights on Henley Royal Regatta for much of academic year. The prestigious regatta is the best chance for the squad to test themselves against the world's best and showcase their speed after a year of hard work and dedication to the club. The men’s squad had come off impressive results at MET and Durham regatta, and had entered 3 eights into the Temple as well as a Prince Albert four made up of our incredibly successful development squad. Having proven themselves throughout the year, the men’s first eight secured pre-qualification for the Temple where they were also seeded in the competition. The PA four, with their excellent back-to-back wins on the Saturday and Sunday at Durham regatta also joined the Temple ‘A’ crew in securing pre-qualification. This alone is an incredible achievement for the athletes involved, as qualifying for Henley is a target for rowers across the country and they had accomplished it in only their first year of rowing. That meant that Temple ‘B’ and ‘C’ had to race for their spots at qualifiers. After gutsy performances from the two eights, both boats secured qualification making history as the first time that DUBC has qualified three eights in the Temple. This is a massive achievement for the club and is testament to the depth of talent on offer in the squad.

On the women’s side, DUBC had entered two eights into the very competitive Island challenge cup: an impressive achievement in itself. However, having not prequalified, Island ‘A’ and ‘B’ were both set to race for their spots at qualifiers. Having a point to prove, Island ‘A’ put in an incredibly strong performance and not only secured their spot in the Island Challenge Cup but were ultimately seeded in the event. Unfortunately, Island ‘B’ came up short and, despite a great performance, did not qualify for the regatta.

For most crews in the regatta, racing would commence on Tuesday. Having secured a bye, the Island ‘A’ crew would wait for their first race until Thursday, and racing would begin on Wednesday in the Prince Albert so the four would also have to wait to kick off their Henley campaign. Temple ‘A’ began their regatta with a race against Edinburgh ‘B’. This did not prove to be a problem for them, winning the race by a verdict of 2 1/4 lengths. Unfortunately for Temple ‘B’ and ‘C’ the draw meant that their races would be far more difficult. Temple ‘B’ came up against Princeton ‘A’ and put in a gutsy performance, ultimately losing, but holding Princeton to just over a length all the way down the track. Temple ‘C’ drew Cambridge for their race on the Tuesday and despite a strong performance they too were knocked out.

Wednesday brought about the start of the PA four’s Henley campaign. Despite the incredible achievement of qualifying for the regatta, the PA four was unlucky to draw the American powerhouse Brown University. The five members of our development squad left it all on the course but were beaten by the American crew. Also racing on Wednesday was the Temple ‘A’ crew, who also came up against an American boat, Cornell University. The American crew started fast and pulled out to about a half a length lead over Durham. Durham then began to move back on Cornell for much of the race but ran out of water and were beaten by 3 feet in one of the closest races in the regatta.

Thursday saw Island ‘A’ being the only Durham crew left in the regatta. They would come up against Radcliffe Crew ‘A’ from the USA. Durham stormed out of the blocks and took a length’s lead coming off the Island, a lead which would only increase as they rowed away from Radcliffe to take a 3-length victory, and progress to the next day. On Friday, Durham would face their local rivals Newcastle, a race any Durham athlete would say is an important one. Durham once again went hard out of the blocks and took a few seats on Newcastle; this would increase to over a length by the barrier. The women continued to move away throughout the race as they lead by just under 2 lengths in an impressive victory over the blue star.

Saturday, saw the Durham crew come up against Oxford Brookes University ‘A’, who have been dominating the women’s university rowing scene all year. Durham took the race to the favourites, holding Brookes to a couple of seats coming off the island. However, despite their best-efforts Brookes moved away in the middle of the race and Durham lost by around 1 1/2 lengths. Despite this result, this is the first time in history a Durham crew has made the semi-final of the Island challenge cup and it is an incredible achievement for the club and all the athletes involved.

After a season of historic results at regattas such as BUCS and Henley Women’s Regatta. DUBC capped of their season at the ever-brilliant Henley Royal Regatta where we showcased the depth of our squads as well as how we can compete with the very best the university scene has to offer. We hope to build on this impressive year and continue these results in the year to come.