Men’s Eight to return to Henley Royal Regatta

Men’s Eight to return to Henley Royal Regatta for first time in 30 years

A top New Zealand rowing eight will race at the Henley Royal Regatta for the first time in 30 years in 2010 – coincidentally the year the Rowing World Championships returns to New Zealand.

The two men’s fours that will race in Europe will join forces to take on a field that is likely to include the medal-winning Great Britain men’s eight.

The rowers named in the boat are Jade Uru, Hamish Burson, Ben Hammond, Tyson Williams, Shaun O’Neill, David Eade, Ian Seymour and Michael Arms.

The rowing eight remains at the heart of the sport in New Zealand after the history-making wins at the 1972 Olympic Games and the 1982 and 1983 World Championships. The huge success enjoyed in small boats by the rowing squad in recent years has meant it has not been a priority boat.  Even so, it has never been too far away from the minds of coaches and selectors, as High Performance Manager for the New Zealand rowing team Alan Cotter explained.

“We do have a love affair with the eight; it is the fastest boat of all and has delivered some of the most memorable moments in New Zealand sporting history. This year we have two promising young fours heading to Europe made up mainly of our crop of Under 23 world champions and our racing schedule includes Henley Royal Regatta. The Henley Stewards have been very generous in supporting both our trip to the regatta in 2009 and this year and with a bigger squad, we wanted to pay back some of that support and have a crack at a couple more events.

“The coxless fours event is the first choice, and we will have our two boats in that. The Grand Challenge Eight will be made up of these two boats and will be under the wing of world championship winning coach Dave Thompson.”

The Grand Challenge Cup is the oldest and most prestigious event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta. The event dates from 1839 and was originally called the "Henley Grand Challenge Cup". The Stewards resolved that a Silver Cup, worth 100 guineas, would be raced for annually by amateur crews in eight-oared boats.  The Grand has since been competed for annually with the sole exception of the years affected by the two World Wars.

In its history the Cup has been won by foreign crews 45 times - 12 times by crews from Germany, 11 from the US, 9 from the former USSR, 4 times by crews from Canada, 3 times each from Australia and Belgium and once each by crews from Bulgaria, Croatia, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. New Zealand has not recorded a win in the event so far.

For Cotter, the Grand Challenge has a special significance. He coxed the last New Zealand men’s eight to compete in the event way back in 1980 – losing in the final to the USA men’s eight.

“It will be great to see a New Zealand men’s eight in the Grand. It’s a bonus for the boys and we always aim to win. It does have special memories for me personally, particularly as we raced there in 1980, the year of the Olympic boycott.”

Last year the BankLink-backed New Zealand rowing team – racing as the national federation club, Waiariki – dominated the small boat events at the regatta with Mahé Drysdale, Emma Twigg, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond and Nathan Cohen and Matthew Trott all beating world class opposition to secure titles. This year Drysdale and Duncan Grant will again race the single sculls and Twigg the women's single. Bond and Murray will defend their title, while Cohen and new partner Joseph Sullivan will defend the double scull title. The new men’s quad will race, marking a return to Henley for the first time in a decade for Olympic bronze medallist Nathan Twaddle, as will two women’s quadruple sculls, the two men’s fours and the Grand Challenge Eight.

A second New Zealand eight, a club crew from West End, are all set to race in the club eight’s event, the Thames Cup. It will be by far the largest ever contingent of Kiwi rowers to grace the regatta.

 
ends
 

© Scoop Media