Oxfordshire Limited Edition – July 2019

190 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition|June 2019

SarahMillingtongetsthelowdownontheHenleyRoyalRegatta,afive-dayrowing

extravaganza,whichisoneofthehighlightsoftheBritishsportingandsocialcalendar

BOATING BONANZA

F

oundedin 1839 ,Henley

RoyalRegattaisundoubtedly

theworld’smostfamous

eventofitstype.Itisoneof

thehighlightsoftheBritish

sportingcalendar,beingheld

inhighregardbyrowersincludingcurrent

chairmanSirSteveRedgrave,butitisalso

renownedasasocialoccasion,attracting

visitorsfromaroundtheworld.Originally

stagedbythemayorandthepeopleofHenley

asapublicattractionwithafair,theemphasis

soonchangedtoamateurrowing.Theregatta

lastsforfivedays,endingonthefirstweekend

inJuly,andracesareknock-outcompetitions

stagedoveramile-longcourse.Theyregularly

attractinternationalcrews,withthemost

prestigiousbeingtheGrandChallengeCup

formen’seights.

Sinceitsinception,theregattahasbeen

heldannually,exceptduringthetwoWorld

Wars.In 1851 ,PrinceAlbertbecamethe

firstroyalpatronandthereigningmonarch

hastakenonthisroleeversince.Duringthe

courseofitshistory,theregattahasoften

beenattendedbymembersoftheroyal

family,withthemostrecentbeingHRHThe

PrincessRoyal,in 2010 .Aheadofthisyear’s

regatta,aspokesmanrevealsthehighlightsto

SarahMillington.

What’ssospecialabouttheregatta?

Itisauniqueevent–ablendofcutting-edge

elitesportingperformanceandabeautiful

gardenpartysetting.It’savenueformaking

andrenewinglifelongfriendships.

Canyoudescribetheatmosphere?

HenleyRoyalRegattaisaquintessentially

Britishsummerpartycelebratingsporting

performanceandexcellencewithamodern

yettraditionalbackdrop.

Whatdoesitmeantothecompetitors?

Itisaverydifferentcompetitionto

theOlympicGamesandtheWorld

Championships,butHenleyRoyalRegatta

isrightupthereatthepinnacleofrowing,

soatrophyisoneofthemosthighlyprized

achievementsinoursport.

Howmanyraceswilltherebe?

Thatdependsontheentrieswereceive,but

typicallytherewouldbearound 300 races

overthefivedays.

Whatwillbethisyear’shighlights?

Thereare 23 trophiesinvariouscategories

thatcrewscompeteforbutthisyearwe

willalsoseeeightmixed-gendermilitary

crewsracingfortheKing’sCuptocelebrate

the 100 thanniversaryoftheHenleyPeace

Regatta.Wealsoexpecttobehonoured

withaflyoverortwoduringthefivedays.

Whichrowers/crewsshouldwelookout

for?

It’stooearlytosayasyetbut,asusual,I’m

surewewillhaveanarrayofOlympicand

WorldChampionrowers,aswellassome