Who to watch, ready for KHB'22

Jun 24, 2022

Who to watch, ready for KHB’22

We are thrilled that the 2022 edition of the Koninklijke-Holland Beker will start tomorrow in full glory. Rowing crews from 14 different countries will join our beloved rowing regatta which, as usual, takes place at the Bosbaan. Not only will the KHB be Holland’s most renowned international regatta this weekend, it will also serve as the Dutch Championship for every boat with more than 2 oars (NK Groot).

Needless to say that we, after a long period of planning and preparing, are more than ready for a brilliant weekend full of rowing pleasure. For the complete KHB experience, we advise you to come and checkout the grandstand at the Bosbaan or watch the livestream, and very important, buy the most awesome rowing merchandise available to mankind. Of course, a rowing regatta is all about racing, so helpful as we are, we’ve put together some of the highlights you can look out for this weekend.

Ladies’ Trophy

Last year, with a lead of nearly 20 seconds, Pia Greiten claimed the Ladies’ Trophy and thereby became the successor of Emma Twigg. Both rowers will not reclaim their title in the 2022 edition. Of course, this begs the question who will bring the Ladies’ Trophy home this year. With the pandemic mostly faded out (which hopefully stays that way) and the travel restrictions for most countries lifted, the Trophy can travel quite far this year. With entries from Australia to the USA, the international allure of the KHB is shining like never before. The Australian Ria Thompson is clearly one to look out for. She triumphed during the 2019 World U23 Championships in the single and won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s quad. Another Olympian in da house is Alison Rusher, who represents both Cambridge Boat Club and the USA. Regarding the Dutch representation, we have a nice fun fact, which is that one of the competitors for the Trophy, Lisanne van der Lelij (Orca), is the daughter of Tom, with whom we talked last week about the ins and outs of umpiring at the KHB. Make sure to keep an eye on Minke Holleboom (Euros), who definitely has a chance of finishing as first Dutchie and maybe even the crown?

Holland Beker

The battle for the Holland Beker will also be of Olympic standards. With silver medal winner Kjetil Borch appearing at the start, we are convinced that this race will be another one to watch. Kjetil (Norway) made his Olympic debut in 2012, when he participated with Nils Jakob Hoff in the Double Sculls. After becoming World Champion in the Single Sculls in 2019, Kjetil won the silver medal last year in Tokyo. We are proud to announce that Kjetil will compete for the Holland Beker this year. For the Netherlands, we have, amongst others, Wietse Morreau as a serious contender. With his enormous talent and his third place in the Dutch Championships last year, he has the potential to be the best placed Dutchman in this edition and is a possible contender for the throne.

Australia represent

Although the Netherlands is not exactly around the corner, Australia is well represented in the entries. After two years of limited travel possibilities, they can now travel the world again to remind us that they have some very talented rowers on board. We talked with one of the coaches of the lightweight women’s crew. Nigel Harding is the proud coach of the lightweight Australian women, made up by Sophie Jerapetritis, Eve Mure, Alexandra Moylan and Maggie Foley. The last eight weeks they have been training at the Australian National University Boat Club in Canberra. Sophie and Eve won Haslam Trophy, which is the Championship Lightweight Double Sculls at the Henley Women’s Regatta, last Sunday. After narrowly missing selection into the national senior and under 23 national teams, the group decided to obtain international racing experience by attending the Henley Women’s, Holland Beker and Henley Royal Regatta. The national federation, Rowing Australia, contributed in the form of arranging contacts for boats to hire. The entire squad is aiming for Paris 2024, although this will be very hard as for the lightweight women the double sculls are the only event available. This weekend however, they will make sure to add some Australian spice to the KHB and put in their best efforts.

Not to miss

The Australian rowers are not the only ones who start both the KHB and the Henley Royal Regatta. In the Men’s Elite 8+ a boat from Triton will enter, with freshly announced World Cup participators Pieter van Veen and Eli Brouwer on board. For this squad the expectations at the KHB and at Henley are quite high. Another highly talented boat is the Men’s Double Sculls of Wibout Rustenburg (Skøll), who will race with the French Guillaume Turlan at both the KHB and Henley.

Irrespective of how good this preview will be, rowing is best experienced alongside the water with a beer in your hand and all your friends around you on the grandstand. We are more than ready and hope to see you all on Saturday and Sunday. Don’t forget to take a picture at the photobooth to bring home your KHB memories. See you there!

All entries, time-table and draw can be found via Time-Team.