Deerfield girls varsity rowing’s top boat placed second at the Henley Royal Regatta, competing from June 28 to July 2.
In the finals on July 2, Deerfield raced against Greenwich, which had recently placed second at the USRowing Nationals in June. It was a close race, with Deerfield taking the lead for the first half. However, Greenwich pulled away at the end; Deerfield lost by a one-third of a length, earning it second place in the regatta.
Rachel Mark ’23 said that the team’s poise helped them perform to their best. “I think that our boat’s ability to row our own race helped us find success at Henley. Every time we lined up against another crew, we always knew that they would be strong, but also that we would be able to stay internal and adjust to whatever they threw at us,” she said.
The Henley Royal Regatta takes place annually on the River Thames in Henley-on-Thames, England, a small town just outside London. The course is 2112 meters, over a mile long, upstream. The regatta is a single-elimination tournament with five rounds, one each day.
Teams from countries including the UK, USA, and Australia compete for the Prince Phillip Challenge Trophy, inaugurated last year. Thirty-one teams participated, with 20 teams remaining after the qualifying time trials. Deerfield, however, was exempt from these trials due to its entry to the A-Finals at Nationals and its victory at NEIRAS.
Deerfield’s team, coached by Parker Washburn, consisted of Mark, Georgia Sackrey ’23, Natalie Meyer ’23, Margot McAuliffe ’24, Lillian Auth ’24, Jenny Jin ’24, Tatum Lowe ’25, Emi Takegami ’25, and Teagan Farley ’26.
Deerfield had a bye in the first round on June 28. In the team’s first race on June 29, Deerfield defeated St. Paul’s Girls’ School, an all-girls school in London.
In the quarterfinals on June 30, the girls won their race against St. Catherine’s, which won silver at the Australian National Championship, by over a full boat length, advancing them to the semifinals on July 1.
In the semi-finals, Deerfield faced yet another challenging opponent: Winter Park, the 2023 winner of the US Scholastic National Championships. Once again, Deerfield won its race by over a boat length.
To prepare for the regatta, the girls trained at Princeton after their trip to Florida for Nationals and then flew to Henley. There, they trained for a week before the regatta twice a day on the official race course.
During their time in Henley, the girls and Ms. Valk stayed with a host family who had hosted crew teams before. The family had two daughters who were both former rowers with whom the girls quickly became friends during their stay. While the girls did eat breakfast and some dinners in the house, most of their time was spent training and outside of the home.
Mark is grateful for the amount of support the girls received.“Every time we raced, I would receive texts from my neighbors, extended family, Deerfield friends, and other community members. It was so fun to see just how many people were cheering us on from afar,” she said.
As a final message of gratitude for the support Deerfield received, Lowe said, “We’re really grateful for Mr. Washburn’s coaching and Ms. Valk for being such a great addition to the trip, but we’re also really grateful for having such a wonderful and supportive host family.”