Royals make history at Henley

For the first time in Royal Chester Rowing Club’s 175 year history two senior eights not only qualified for this year’s ‘Thames Challenge Cup’, they both also won their first races. Henley Royal Regatta is the Blue Riband event in the rowing calendar with crews competing from all over the UK as well as overseas, sprinting over the iconic 2000m course. History was also made when the race organisers had to create a special ‘B crew’ identification board for Royals.

Royals are fortunate this year to have two highly competitive eights who trained hard over the winter. A special mention goes to brothers, Harry McGarva in the two seat of the A crew and Jack McGarva in the two seat of the B crew. Winning on Wednesday in the A crew was an extra special day for Harry as he raced on his 17th Birthday. They raced against Tideway Scullers School, beating them by almost two lengths but lost to Mosely RC of London in their next race.

The B crew went head to head against Newark RC in a tightly fought race which resulted in a win by two feet. The race umpire, four times Olympic Gold Medalist Matthew Pinsent, congratulated Royals saying "its one of the best races I’ve ever umpired". The crew came up against strong London opposition the following day and were beaten by Upper Thames RC.

Royal Chester A Crew:-

Bow - Edward Bloomfield, 2 - Harry McGava, 3 - James Magee, 4 - Joseph Fletcher-Hunt, 5 - George Holgate, 6 - Sam Edwards, 7 - Sam Wade, Stroke - Oliver Cocklin, Cox Sarah Armstrong.

Royal Chester B Crew:-

Bow - Edward Mills, 2 - Jack McGarva, 3 - Tom Walters, 4 - Marc Pinnington , 5 - James Yates, 6 - Patrick Stephens, 7 - Alex Constantinou, Stroke - Christopher Thomas, Cox - Bethany Sykes.