This year Imperial entered three crews entered into the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. After some disappointment in 2019 following tough draws, the squad were keen to turn this result around.
The first day of racing saw Temple ‘A’ beat Caius College, Cambridge by 2 1/2 lengths whilst Temple ‘B’ beat Caius and Homerton Colleges, Cambridge in a verdict of easily. The Temple ‘C’ boat put in a good race but were unfortunately knocked out by the University of Bristol. This was many of the crews' first time at Henley and provided invaluable experience.
Thursday saw Temple 'A' drawn against Temple 'B'. It was wonderful to see an all-Imperial match up where Temple ‘B’ who put in a great effort against their teammates. Similarly to the 'C' crew, it was great to see several of them progress to racing at their first HRR after their wins in the novice eight and four at BUCS Regatta in June, having learnt to row with us last year.
Friday's racing saw the first eight take on Newcastle University. They took an early lead coming out of the bottom of the island, continuing to move away down the course to finish 1 3/4 lengths ahead.
Now safely into the weekend, Imperial were up against local rivals University of London in the semi finals. Similarly to the previous day's racing, IC took an early lead of 3/4 lengths near the bottom of the island and quickly moved away to clear water. The final verdict was 2 lengths.
The final saw IC take on ASR Nereus. The Dutch crew proved tough opposition- while IC held on well through the early parts of the race, Nereus were able to move away to take the win in the final by 3 1/2 lengths.
We are extremely proud of all the athletes who raced at HRR this year. This was the first time an Imperial crew has made the final of the Temple since 1999. We are now one of only three UK universities to have made the final of this prestigious event in the last twenty years.
Massive thanks to everyone who was part of the club's success this season: the coaching team, the squads, MOVE Imperial and our alumni & supporters.
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