This is Joe McMullin’s unpublished interview with John Flynn of row2k.com on going. He talks about the steps he took leading up the spring season, after the crew had some great success, and other plans and challenges he encountered in planning for the trip.

JF: How early do you have to decide to go/start planning?

Me: – I would advise having a conversation with all the rowers on your team about racing at Henley at the beginning of your year and what it’s going to take, so for some teams that’s early September, others it could be the end of November, before winter training. You should have a follow up conversation sometime during the winter that’s more targeted with the athletes who might actually go, so maybe your top 16 rowers and top coxswains. Also during the winter you should speak with every parent of potential athletes and inform them of the potential costs if there is no fundraising (think $5-$6K per athlete). Obviously the sooner the better for planning, especially for flights and housing once you’re certain you want to race.

JF: What indicators do you see, as a coach, that you have a Henley Crew (independent of qualifying or otherwise)? – 

Me: Having a sub 6:30 2K average on the guys side for Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup (Schoolboy 8+) and sub 7:30 for the Prince Phillip Cup (Girls Youth 8+) will keep you competitive at the regatta. If you want to make Saturday and Sunday, sub 6:20 for boys and sub 7:20 for girls, respectively. You should also have a championship level coxswain who can steer straight, command the crew, make adjustments, and be an in boat coach, is a massive plus as well. The application for racing at Henley requires at least 5 of the crew’s best results over the past 12 months, so having a top 20 finish at the Charles, winning your local duels and regular season races, and medaling at Stotesbury, SRAAs, and making the GF at Youths.

JF: Race when you get to the UK? or train-train-train?

Me: – I would advise getting some racing in while you’re over there, if you’re racing on the women’s side, try to race at Women’s Henley. On the guys side, if you can get there a little over two weeks before racing, race in the Marlow Regatta (2K time trial and finals). You’ll be racing against all age ranges and levels on the British mens side. I would also advise racing in the Reading Town Regatta (800m) the Saturday before Henley as a final tune up.

JF: Tips on feeding/housing a crew over there?

Me:- For housing I would immediately reach out to: crewshosting@hrr.co.uk once you know your concrete plans for staying in Henley and what your numbers are. Be persistent with Henley Housing. They get a ton of inquires. They are likely to give you the cheapest rate of roughly £50 to £70 per person per night with host families. There just are not enough hotels around Henley-on-Thames. Your next option is to book Airbnbs, which can get pricey (£100 to £200 per person per night), especially last minute.

As for feeding the athletes: good quality food from grocery stores can actually be pretty reasonably priced because the Brits subsize their food. If you’re going to eat out make reservations roughly a week in advance. I think we budgeted roughly £5  for breakfast, £15 for lunch, and £25 for dinner per athlete and we never broke the bank.

JF: Trickiest part of the trip?

Me:- By far the course. It’s extremely daunting for blind crews and coxswains steering with the booms. Plan to arrive early enough to get time go up the left side (Berks) and right side of the course (Bucks) several times. The Henley Stewards don’t usually announce the schedule for racing until 8 or 9 PM the night before each race day, so be ready to race on either side. The other challenge is booking flights. Book them as soon as possible. Fundraising can be a huge strain: I would advise exhausting every avenue to help get your crew over there. Start with existing donors, then alumni, then the school community, and lastly the larger community. There can be a lot of energy for sending a crew. We budgeted approximately $5K per kid and never went over budget. Lastly, ordering Henley Blazers/Jackets: this was an enormous strain because turn around times can range anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks and that athletes will want their jackets before the overseas banquet held at the Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames the Monday night of Henley. So please order those as soon as possible.

Trickiest part of the racing? Handling the conditions of the course. If you watch a lot of the Henley racing on their amazing YouTube chanel you’ll see that crews on the Bucks side will start by going up the middle of the course and pushing crews on the Berks side over because how the river moves around Temple Island. The other tricky part is that Henley doesn’t go off regular 500 meter markers, like we see in 1500s and 2K racing. Their first timed marker is to the Barrier (~637 meters in) and Foley (~1047m in), then nothing till the finish. I don’t think transitioning from 1500m or 2K to the Henley course distance of 2,112 meters is that big of a deal.