Winning Henley while working the nine to five? Ben Lewis makes it three in a row for Thames RC.

Words & Photography BENEDICT TUFNELL

COACHING

“Rowing is simple, you row long and you row hard”, says Thames Rowing Club Head Coach Ben Lewis who, with his no-nonsense philosophy, has overseen the club’s remarkable rise from perennial bridesmaids to three Henley Royal Regatta wins in the last three years. The latest of which being especially sweet as his second-string crew dispatched all other entries from both Britain and abroad to arrive at a Thames ‘A’ versus Thames ‘B’ final.

Winning just one event at Henley is notoriously tricky; a rat race based largely on right place, right time, and hopefully the right conditions.

The churn rate at the top is high; one year’s club champions can be the next year’s first-round fodder as personnel come and go. “Road bikes, dating apps and work pressures are club rowing’s biggest squeeze on talent right now”, believes Lewis. “Just getting the guys through the door and hanging on to them is tough enough.” So what’s his secret?

Lift the curtain on the medal factory his Thames program has fast become and you will find little different to any other domestic club. Situated on London’s Putney embankment - made famous as the venue for the start of the Oxford Cambridge Boat Races each year - Thames RC comprises a squad of full-time young professionals, balancing the 9-5 grind and fledgling careers in the big smoke with a full program of training on the water. A balancing act it seems they are getting just right.