A Brief History of Women’s Rowing

Our history of women’s rowing continues this month as we delve into three of the biggest domestic regattas the UK has to offer. Women’s competition has come a long way since its emergence; when we look back in time at some of the most significant moments in rowing, it can often seem like centuries ago that racing began its long journey to equality, but in reality, a majority of those changes only took place in the last 30 years. 

National schools’ Regatta:

The National Schools’ Regatta is the largest regatta for juniors in Great Britain. The event takes place over three days in May, with a turn out of over 3500 competitors from around the world each year. The regatta offers junior rowers from J14-J18 the chance to compete in multilane racing; over 50 evens to choose from the regatta hosts various abilities from seasoned racers to novices. 

The regatta was first raced in 1947, following the end of the Second World War, there was a hunger for junior racing, especially for competitors below second eight level. Originally named the “Colts and Third Eights Regatta”, the regatta was held by St Edwards school and raced over the Godstow stretch, which is approximately 1800 metres. The boys’ schools involved were St Edwards, Bedford, Shrewsbury and Radley. Over time the size of the regatta increased, and even more, schools joined the scene. However, until 1979, 32 years after the original regatta was established, there were still no junior women’s events. 

The addition of the Junior Women’s coxed fours event was finally approved by the committee and became an incredibly popular event. Six years later, in 1985, the championship girls’ single event was added. From there, the presence of junior women at the regatta increased steadily along with the events offered to them.   

Nat schools has, over the years, become the standout event for a majority of junior women up and down the country. With entries from J14 upwards, it comes as no surprise that Nat schools have the highest amount of junior women’s entries out of any other regatta in the UK. 

Henley Women’s Regatta 

Following the National Championships of 1987, Rosie Mayglothling (the women’s national coach) recognised the growing number of female rowers and emphasised that the women should have their opportunity to race on the Henley stretch, separated from the main regatta. This would allow university and college students to compete and enable the women to race following a sensible timetable, not during lunch or tea breaks, ensuring that direct attention was focused on the women racing. The support of the stewards would prove to be vital in the construction of Henley Women’s Regatta (HWR), as they owned the land on either side of the river as well as all of the instalments used for Henley Royal Regatta (HRR). Christine Aistrop would become the first chairman of the event, with Rosie Mayglothling by her side. After months of unwavering determination, permission was granted to stage the first regatta in 1988. 

Thirty-three years ago, on the date of the first regatta, 109 entries lined up on the royal course, with 97 races running between 9:00 am and 6:50 pm. The number of entries submitted by university and senior eights convinced the committee of considering a second event and, for many, satisfied a long-lived desire of racing the Henley Royal course. Small advancements were continually made to the regatta, although it was not until 1992 that the HRR committee would permit Henley Women’s to take place on a Sunday afternoon. HWR celebrated its 30th annual regatta in the summer of 2017. Now at the forefront of women’s competition, the annual event allows an incredibly high calibre of women to compete side by side on the Henley course in all events, some of which have not been available to women at Henley Royal Regatta. 

Women at Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta first began operations in 1839 as a community attraction; however, it rapidly transformed into a showcase of competitive amateur rowing. It was not until 1993, 154 years after the first regatta, that women had the opportunity to race in a full regatta event: the women’s single scull. Seven years later, in 2000, the women’s open weight eight was introduced at the regatta, only 21 years ago. The addition of more women’s events continued in the following years, with women’s open weight events finally becoming equal with the men’s in 2017, only four years ago. Lightweight women and junior women’s events were yet to catch up. Still, after a long wait, HRR finally announced the inclusion of a junior women’s and club women’s eights categories alongside their plans to expand to a six-day regatta to accommodate extra races. Henley now holds ten women’s events, still a way behind the men’s total of 15, although it has to be said they are taking a step in the right direction. 

With the ever-expanding breadth, depth and quality of women’s rowing, it comes as no surprise that more regattas are becoming increasingly open to the addition of women’s open weight, lightweight, junior, senior, university and club events. However, I think it’s also vital to acknowledge the great women who came before us, those who paved the way for women’s rowing and, through sheer grit and determination, elevated our sport to where it is now. If you missed my last article on developing women’s international racing, go and give it a read to learn more about some of the most prominent figureheads in women’s early competitive racing. 

That’s all for now. If you’re hungry for more, check out any of our other pieces from The Catch, listen to the latest podcast episode, or flick through our race previews.

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Amarna Milne

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