Drysdale emerges at Henley

Defending champion Drysdale met Sweden’s top single sculler Lassi Karonen in the final of the Diamond Sculls event for the men’s single in the one-on-one racing style of the Henley regatta.

This year’s Henley Royal Regatta on London’s Thames River attracted a large number of international rowers including a strong contingent from France’s national team. Coming out the best for the French was Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain in the men’s double, the Double Sculls Challenge Cup. Berrest and Bahain met the British duo of Matthew Wells and Marcus Bateman in the final, but Bateman says that he and Wells never found their rhythm and stopped rowing around the six-minute mark. This is the first loss at a major event this season for Wells and Bateman who beat the French last month at the Rowing World Cup in Munich. 

 
Great Britain also suffered a loss in the Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup for the men’s pair. Peter Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge of Great Britain have finished second to the New Zealand pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray at every race they’ve had in the last two years. Reed and Hodge were hoping to change this on their home water course. But, Hodge said, after matching the New Zealanders early in the race, they then watched Bond and Murray take off to win by a huge 15 second margin at the finish.

The women’s single, the Princess Royal Challenge Cup, also left British shores, this time going to the Czech Republic. Mirka Knapkova finished ahead of Genevra Stone of the United States. Knapkova is a regular on the international scene in the single, while Stone is an Under-23 Champion but is yet to race at the senior level. The 2009 defender of the single, Emma Twigg (NZL) pulled out for medical reasons.
 
Canada beat the Netherlands to make it to the final of the women’s eight, the Remenham Challenge Cup, and raced off against Great Britain. At the finish Canada won by 2 lengths putting them in a good position as they prepare for the third stage of the 2010 Rowing World Cup which starts in Lucerne, Switzerland, at the end of this week.

The men’s eight, the Grand Challenge Cup, was a race between Germany and New Zealand. The reigning World Champions, Germany, finished first.

Both the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls stayed in Great Britain. The women beat Canada and then raced New Zealand in the final, beating New Zealand by five lengths. In the men’s quad, the Queen Mother Challenge Cup, Great Britain won against the United States.

A fully international field raced in the men’s four, the Stewards’ Challenge Cup, with the United States beating the Netherlands and Canada on the way to the final against France. Denmark, Argentina and Japan also race. In a very close final, the United States just beat France.

Weather on the day of the finals was a stiff head wind which led to challenging conditions for some of the competitors.