Olympic Champions from London 2012 will be keen to show their paces at this year's Royal Regatta, aiming to prove that they can succeed in the side by side, knock-out format found at Henley as well as in the six lane Olympic format.
British gold medallists like Andy Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed, Alex Gregory and Helen Glover look set to be amongst a strong home contingent, giving them the chance to row in front of the Henley crowd for the first time since winning their 2012 medals.
The two Olympic Champions in Single Sculls - Mahe Drysdale from New Zealand and Mirka Knapkova from the Czech Republic - will attempt to regain the Henley Trophies that they have held before.
Drysdale has won The Diamond Challenge Sculls three times already but could go head-to-head with Olympicbronze medallist, Great Britain's Alan Campbell as well as facing strong opposition from two of his own countrymen, Joseph Sullivan - Olympic Champion in the Double Sculls -and Duncan Grant, ex Lightweight World Champion.
Knapkova has won The Princess Royal Challenge Cup twice but will encounter a fierce challenge from Emma Twigg from New Zealand who finished fourth in last year's London Olympics.
The New Zealand Olympic Champions in the Men's Pair - Eric Murray and Hamish Bond - will want to continue their long, unbeaten run by winning The Silver Goblets for the third time. In TheDouble Sculls their New Zealand team mates, the newly formed combination of Michael Arms and Robert Manson, will encounter stiff competition from the newly formed British double of Bill Lucas and Matt Langridge.
The GB Rowing Team has entered 13 crews in eight top events. Triggs Hodge, Reed and Gregory will appear in The Grand Challenge Cup for Eights, rowing as Leander Club and Molesey Boat Club. Their opponents will be the Polish National Eight, rowing as WKS Zawisza and RTW Lotto, and the undefeated American UniversityChampions from the University of Washington.
In The Stewards' Challenge Cup the new British combination of Oxford Brookes University and University of London will face the New Zealand Heavyweight and Lightweight Fours as well as the Olympic Champions in Lightweight Fours - TUKS Rowing Club from South Africa.
Helen Glover, winner of the first Olympic Gold Medal for Team GB last year, when she and Heather Stanning won the Women's Pair title, is to be found in the British first quad, racing as Leander Club and Minerva Bath Rowing Club, in The Princess Grace Challenge Cup.
The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup for School Eights will see Abingdon School seeking to defend the trophythat they won last year but with strong competition from the top UK rowing schools as well as from Australia (Scotch College), the USA (Boston College) and Germany (Poelchau Oberschule).
A total of 470 crews have entered this year's Regatta, including 86 crews from 22 overseas countries.
The Chairman of the Committee of Management, Mike Sweeney, said "In this post Olympic year I am very pleased to welcome so many London Olympians to this year's Regatta. In the club, student and school events we have another huge entry and can be certain of a great week's racing."
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