Henley Royal Regatta 2024 – Monday Briefing with Fatsculler

With less than 24 hours to go before the first race of the 2024 Henley Royal Regatta, we’re deep into the thick of that tell-tale Henley swing. Crews are at finishing school for the tops and tails of the race of their careers whilst the preparation behind the scenes is driving towards a conclusion. The weather has flattened a little after the sunny highs of last week but promises relatively reasonable conditions for racing. Henley is almost here.

With a full roster of racing tomorrow – starting at 9am and with the last race of the day setting off at 7:35pm – let’s dive into the action.

Morning Session (9am – 12:20pm)

Race 4, 9:15am – Sydney Rowing Club, Australia vs Molesey BC (Wyfold Challenge Cup)

A crew featuring a range of Australian national champions meet one of the UK’s brightest prospects in Molesey Boat Club. The latter were finalists at Ghent International Regatta and this race should get the Remenham crowds going.

Race 8, 9:40am – Belen Jesuit Prep School, USA vs Southport School, Australia (Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup)

An all-international affair which gives the home contingent their first proper look at some of the overseas schoolboy eights, which includes the selected Southport, who were silver medalists at the 2024 Australian National Championships. One would expect the Aussies to see this one through but Belen Jesuit were winners of the ‘B’ final at the USRowing Youth National Championships.

Race 17, 10:35am – Latymer Upper School vs Shiplake College, Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup

Shiplake’s summer speed is improving year on year and this is a crew who won silver at the Schools’ Head of the River and followed that up with a bronze at the National Schools’ Regatta. Latymer have had a great season, placing seventh at Schools’ Head (ten seconds behind Shiplake) but slowed to tenth at Dorney in May. Given they were third and sixth from the junior boats at Marlow, this could be an interesting contest.

Race 24, 11:15am – Bedford School vs Eton College, Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup

Eton’s season has stuttered a little and they’ll be desperate to give Mark Fangen-Hall a proper send-off in an event they have won twice in the past five editions (although not in the past two). Bedford have made the step-up to championship level after an excellent season in 2023 that saw them crowned as the undisputed fastest first eight. One would expect Eton to triumph here but stranger things have happened…

Race 25, 11:20am – Imperial College vs University of London, Prince Albert Challenge Cup

It’s always fun to see an IC x UL match-up. With UL stacking their four and Imperial having a wonderful pedigree in this event, this pre-lunch race could be a firecracker.

Race 34, 12:15pm – Wairau Rowing Club, New Zealand vs Mercantile Rowing Club, Australia, Britannia Challenge Cup

The bad boys of rowing are back, and better than ever. Whenever Wairau travel, you know we’re in for a good time. Up against Mercantile – who were ninth in championship coxed fours at Marlow Regatta – we’ll be very interested to see how this one unfolds.

Afternoon Session (2pm – 4:20pm)

Race 35, 2pm – Shawnigan Lake School, Canada vs Shiplake College, Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup

Shiplake have stacked the eight but such is the depth of their squad, they have still managed to qualify a quad into one of the Regatta’s most competitive trophies. Shawnigan are slated to be top-three level in their homeland so this could be a pretty good indication of how quick our overseas entries are likely to be.

Race 44, 2:45pm – KARZV De Hoop, Netherlands vs Nottingham Rowing Club, Britannia Challenge Cup

De Hoop are strong contenders in 2024 after a really excellent 2023 Regatta, in which they made the final of the Thames and the semi-finals of the Wyfold Challenge Cups. Nottingham were eighth at Marlow and represent one of the best domestic prospects in this event. These two will have wanted to avoid each other in the first round.

Race 49, 3:15pm – Barcelona CR, Spain v Calgary Rowing Club, Canada, Wyfold Challenge Cup

Another two boats who will have really hoped to steer clear of each other in the early rounds – having traveled some distance to compete on the Henley stretch – this is a clash between the winners of coxless fours at last year’s Canadian Henley and a largely masters crew who have won A & B categories at the World Masters Regatta.

Race 55, 3:50pm – Northwich Rowing Club v Molesey Boat Club, Fawley Challenge Cup

The Fawley Challenge Cup also throws up a range of intriguing contests and this race has all the hallmarks of a compelling narrative, inclusive of the fact that both boats were seventh and tenth at the National Schools’ Regatta. Their times were 0.07 seconds apart which leaves this one tantalisingly open.

Evening Session (5:30pm – 7:35pm)

Race 72, 6:35pm – University of London vs Cornell University, USA, Temple Challenge Cup

American lightweights landing on Henley turf before heading straight into the heat of battle with one of the UK’s most venerable rowing institutions. This is not UL’s fastest combination but they’ll hope to have enough to unseat the big red.

Race 78, 7:10pm – SRV Alter Teichweig Hamburg, Germany vs Westminster School, Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup

The luck of the draw isn’t shining on this German outfit, who drew eventual winners from Teddies in their opening 2023 contest and have now drawn A-finalists from Westminster in 2024. The Westminster crew were sixth at the National Schools’ Regatta whilst Teichweig won at Ghent.

Race 79, 7:15pm – Haldens R.K., Norway v London Rowing Club ‘A’, Wyfold Challenge Cup

The Norwegian champions against the holders should generate some noise towards the end of the day. This is always a brilliant category to watch, not least for the generally curious interpretations of what a straight line is from these club coxless fours. In 2024, the expectation is that London won’t retain their trophy but they’ll still be keen to put up a good fight.

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