Aramoho-Whanganui Rowing Club crew target Henley Royal Regatta glory in England

An Aramoho-Whanganui Rowing Club crew, (from left) Xavier Warren, Jake Newton, Bryn Morgan and Nicky Maxim, will compete in the junior boys' quad sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta.

The Aramoho-Whanganui Rowing Club is sending a promising crew of four to the Henley Royal Regatta in England.

The regatta, which began in 1839, is considered the world’s most prestigious.

Held on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, this year’s event runs from June 30 to July 5.

An Aramoho-Whanganui Rowing Club (AWRC) crew of Nicky Maxim, Jake Newton, Bryn Morgan and Xavier Warren, coached by Axel Dickinson, will compete in the Fawley Challenge Cup.

The cup is the junior boys’ quad sculls event.

The club first entered a crew, including current club president Tom Monaghan, in 2019 and fell short in what Dickinson described as “one of the closest races in Henley history” against London Rowing Club.

Dickinson said the opportunity arose through connections with English rowing schools and clubs.

Over the past four years, AWRC has trained seven athletes from Hinksey Sculling School, where Dickinson coached, and four from Hereford Rowing Club.

Witnessing the English rowers’ standard had benefited AWRC, Dickinson said.

The idea to send a crew to Henley had been “floating around for a while”, and it would be a “real dream” to see the crew compete, he said.

The crew, all under 19, have 20 Maadi Cup medals and eight national championship medals between them.

Head coach coach Axel Dickinson (third from left) is confident that current Whanganui High School student Nicky Maxim (far left) is ready for the world stage. Photo / Sharron Bennett Photography

Dickinson said the club was excited to see how the “highly committed” crew performed.

“It’s the right group and right timing, they are still young,” he said.

“They are a very self-driven, mature group in terms of how they go about their work.

“There is no element of needing to push them; they want it themselves.”

Dickinson, who has attended the Henley Regatta several times, said it was a “massive deal” to compete at the prestigious event.

“Henley, what an amazing thing to attend. I think they are going to be completely blown away with the event,” he said.

“It’s the most famous regatta in the world, in terms of how it’s run and the atmosphere, nothing beats it. When I say nothing, I mean not the Olympics, not the world champs, not even the Maadi Cup. It’s the pinnacle of rowing.

“There is nothing quite like it – it’s a real special event.”

The crew will compete in a pre-qualifying regatta at the Rowing NZ Winter Series at Lake Karāpiro.

From there, Dickinson said training would intensify ahead of the Henley Regatta.

“They know it, they are up for it, they will do anything it takes to be the best they can be,” he said.

“Training will be hard but they are pretty hard too.”

The crew will sell firewood to help fund their trip.

Donations can be made through the Givealittle page givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-get-the-boys-to-henley-royal-regatta

Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.