HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England – When Wisconsin women's lightweight rowers Evelyn Payne and Alicia Le Bars decided this spring that they wanted to race at the 2023 Henley Women's Regatta, they walked into coach Hodge Habibovic's office at Porter Boathouse, PowerPoint presentation in tow, and laid out all the reasons they should make the trip to Europe this summer, with much of the logistics already figured out.

It worked.

Twenty-four years since a crew from Wisconsin rowing represented the Badgers on the River Thames, the first representatives from UW's lightweight program made the trek across the Atlantic Ocean on their own dime.

The Badger openweights made their first trip in 1995, winning the Royal Henley Regatta's Ladies' Challenge Plate in the collegiate eight, then returned in 1999, falling in the second round to a composite boat of former British national team rowers.
 
This year's regatta ran June 21-23 racing over 1,500 meters on the River Thames, two weeks before the Royal Henley.
 
Racing for the Haslem Trophy, the Badger crew of Payne and Le Bars qualified in the top six in the time trial, then won their quarterfinal, before falling to eventual champion Durham University in the semifinals.

Straight from the Shore 
Lightweight coach Hodge Habibovic
"For all of our first timers competing at any Henley, I'm pretty content with how we showed. We had what would be the winners in the semifinals, and even though we posted the second fastest time between the two semis, we were sent home before the final. Unfortunately, that's the nature of the beast with Henley dual-style racing, but If you're going to lose, you want to get knocked out by the champs."
 
"When we discussed going across the pond, we set a goal to best all the other teams from the USA and we did that. All credit to the crew that beat us, Durham University, because they were impressive and it's easy to see why they're the reigning lightweight England national champions."
 
On being grateful for the experience
"For our girls hopping into the double sculls with 10 practices after IRAs after sweeping all season, I'd say I'm extremely proud of how they raced and how they attacked this trip. We can officially say we got top-3 at Henley and represented UW with pride.
 
"England was beautiful and the people there were lovely. We will be back and we will be faster. Losing never gets easier, but you learn to cherish these opportunities and moments when you get them. Excited to get back to work in Madison and extremely excited for next season."