Sudbury double secures fastest time at Henley Women’s Regatta

Martha Bullen and Amelia Moule competed at the Henley Women's Regatta over the weekend, hoping to improve upon their semi-final success from the same event last year. The crew from Sudbury Rowing Club entered the aspirational double sculls event, which had thirty entries. All crews competed in a 1400-metre time trial along the famous Royal Henley course under near-perfect conditions, albeit very warm and humid.

The fastest sixteen crews would qualify to proceed further in the regatta. Sudbury had an excellent row and secured a place in the next round against Tyne United RC. Once again, the Sudbury crew had a strong and controlled race, winning by an impressive five boat lengths. In their next race, the quarter-finals, they raced Norwich RC in an East Anglian derby. The crews have met a number of times this season, and Sudbury had narrowly won each time. Both crews had a point to prove, and after a very exciting race, the Sudbury crew again came out victorious by three and a half lengths.

In the semi-final, Sudbury were up against Greenbank Falmouth RC, a crew they had not beaten this year. Conditions were quite different, gusty with choppy water. Sudbury went off the start hard and took the lead early on, maintaining it until about halfway when the Greenbank crew pushed past in the wavy conditions. Sudbury put up an excellent fight, but their opposition were stronger on the day and went on to win by just under a length. Greenbank went on to beat a Dutch crew in the final by four and a half lengths. The Sudbury Crew were obviously disappointed not to have gone a step further than last year but did achieve the fastest time of the regatta in their event.

Training continues this week in preparation for the qualifying races for the Henley Royal Regatta. Two crews from Sudbury will be competing in the time trials on Friday along a 2000-metre course. Amelia Moule and Martha Bullen will be competing in the Women's Championship Double Sculls event, and their brothers, Byron Bullen and Harry Moule, will be competing in the Men's Championship Double Sculls. This is unprecedented for Sudbury RC to have two sibling crews competing at the Henley Royal Regatta.