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Calgary Herald

Calgary Rowing Club headed to England for Henley Royal Regatta

The Calgary Rowing Club will be heading across the pond to England, as they gear up for the 2025 Henley Royal Regatta set for the first week in July. Article content The Henley Royal first started in 1839, and is an annual rowing event that takes place on the River Thames by the town Henley-on-Thames in England. Article content Article content The annual four-day rowing event is always held on the first week of July. This year it will run (or row) from July 1 to 6. Article content Article content Although water around the city freezes for over half of the year, the Calgary Rowing Club is the second largest rowing club in all of Canada. Article content Article content 'We're sending a total of 22 athletes, which is really exciting,' Davis said. 'The last time we, the Calgary Rowing Club, sent any boats to the Henley Royal was in 2017, where they sent a women's eight, and before that, I believe it was in 1992 we sent our last boat. And last year, they sent the men's four, who's also going again this year.' Article content Although the men's team that competed last year lost to the eventual champions in the third round, Davis said their performance at the event is still a huge accomplishment. Article content Davis said many of their members who participated in the Henley Royal eventually moved on to represent Canada in varying capacities. Article content Article content 'Two of which were Olympic gold and silver medalists in the last two Olympics, we had a Pan Am medalist who competed in that, and they all competed for Team Canada,' Davis said. 'So, I view this as sort of a stepping stone.' Article content The regatta serves as a peak event for athletes before they begin entering national team prospects, including World Cups, World Championships, and even the Olympics. Article content A regatta itself is a series of races. Over the summer season, rowing is raced over a distance of 2,000 metres. The Henley Royal, however, has a distance of 2,112 metres. Article content As a unique dual-style race, Davis said each race is done by one boat at a time in a knock-out style format.