We have reached the summit. As a rowing community, there are few weeks in the calendar that we collectively look forward to more than Henley Royal Regatta. The unique match-racing style format, the frivolity and festival unfolding on the banks alongside a pomp and circumstance that transports the punter back through the pages of time itself. All of this is secondary though to the curvature of competition that angles upwards as the week unfolds. From heats on the Tuesday to finals on the Sunday, all roads lead to the red box. JRN will be with you every step of the way to provide the most comprehensive coverage of the Regatta available anywhere in the world – and we start with our exclusive set of event previews. Roll on the racing.
Total Entries: 8 (To be reduced to 6 by Qualifying Races)
California Rowing Club, USA
This California RC boat is a ‘tribute’ crew made up of some fantastically accomplished rowers from the past two decades, and it’s going to be fantastic to see them in action – even if winning the event is probably out of the picture. At the helm is coxswain Jack Carlson – known not just for coxing the US national team at three world championships, winning a bronze in 2015, but also founding the Rowing Blazers apparel brand. Scott Gault sits at stroke; an Olympic medalist, Gault won the IRAs several times with Washington before stepping up to the US National Team and winning a bronze in the four at the London 2012 Olympics. Sebastian Bea sits at seven; he rowed at Cal before rowing for the US in the men’s pair at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, wining a silver. He was also part of the world championship-winning US eight at the 1997 Aiguebelette edition of the world championships. At six is the Canadian, Barney Williams. A true icon of Canadian rowing, Williams was a gold medalist in the four at the 2003 world championships, but had to settle for silver in the epic 2004 Olympic final behind GB. Williams went on to row for Oxford, and won the Boat Race in 2005 and 2006 in the Dark Blue boat. Completing the stern four unit is another Canadian, Jake Wetzel. Another paragon of Canada’s glory days, Wetzel is a multiple world champion. He was in Williams’s 2004 coxless four that took silver at the Olympics, but won gold in the phenomenal Canadian eight in Beijing four years later.
In four is Will Miller. Another US Olympian, Miller rowed in the US eight at the 2012 Olympics, falling just short of a medal behind Germany, Canada and GB. He has swept and sculled at multiple World Championships. At three is Tom Katis; Katis rowed at Yale and Team USA back in the ’90s, and went on to be a Green Beret in the US Army. Behind him at two is Ivan Smiljanic, who rowed for Serbia at the 2000 Olympics, and at bow is Henley Steward Jamie Koven, who spent ten years on the US National Team (from 1990 to 2000) and is a world champion in both the eight in 1994, and the single in 1997. If you’re like me, you can’t wait to see this crew take to the water. This is just a fantastic lineup of some real legends of US, Canadian and Serbian rowing, and the fact that they’re coming together to have a crack at the Ladies’ is really wonderful. The likelihood is that these guys won’t have the pace to keep up with the younger crews in this category, but frankly, there’s more than enough horsepower here – let alone race experience – so I could certainly see them making it through a round, with a favourable draw.
Cambridge University
Despite originally putting together a crew capable of winning the Temple Challenge Cup, the Stewards’ felt that this Cambridge outfit – which carries four athletes from the victorious Blue Boat and five from Goldie – were over-qualified and so bumped them into the Ladies’ Challenge Plate. Not to be discouraged, this Light Blue offering are arguably in with a better shout of winning this competition than they might have been in the Temple Challenge Cup. Featuring 2024 men’s president Seb Benzecry, alongside charismatic strokeman Matt Edge, this is a boat who have taken on the rare side-quest of trying to actually compete at Henley Royal Regatta after emerging victorious from the Boat Race. Whether or not they can win the event outright – which, by the way, would be a remarkable achievement – partially depends on just how fast they really are (an outright win at the Metropolitan Regatta back in early June was indicative of a crew that is moving pretty fast) and how quick some of their opposition are.
Broadly, it really is excellent to see the Boat Race brigade taking Henley Royal Regatta seriously and actively trying to pitch in and win trophies on rowing’s most illustrious stage. Finding the willpower to climb two separate peaks can be draining, both physically and mentally, but the commitment that this CUBC outfit have shown to the cause might be an illumination of the pathway to dual progress for future cohorts.
Leander Club and Club Nautique de Chambery le Bourget du Lac, France
This Leander/Club Nautique composite is formed mostly of the strong Northeastern 1V that was third in the B-Final at IRAs just a few weeks ago. The Northeasterners are led by Alex Abuhoff in stroke, who has spent the last few years in the Northeastern varsity and stroked the 1V all season. He rowed in the US U23 BM8+ in Varese in 2022, winning a silver behind GB. He’s joined by fellow Northeastern 1V athletes Braden Porterfield, Aidan Murphy, Captain James Cartwright, who has sculled for GB at the U23 level, and Frenchman Victor El Kholti, who rowed in France’s BM8+ at U23s 2022. This core unit of Northeastern athletes are joined by Leander’s Bryn Ellery, who rowed in the GB BM4X at the U23 world championships in 2022, and won the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta that same year with Leander. The 2022 Henley win was the third of Ellery’s career; he won the Fawley in 2017 and 2018 with Windsor Boys School. Czech rower Jan Vacek from Yale sits at four; he’s represented Czechia several times at the junior level, and has just finished his senior year with the Bulldogs. The eight is completed by French senior international Florian Ludwig. Ludwig is a pretty seasoned oarsman at this point; he started his career with French Rowing in 2020 where he won gold in the lightweight quad at the U23 European championships. He made the shift to heavyweight rowing, and sculled in the quad at the 2021 U23 world championships; he was in the eight at U23s in 2022, and also rowed in the pair at the Poznan World Rowing Cup that year. 2023 saw more senior international rowing, where Ludwig represented France at the world championships in the pair again, while also winning a bronze at U23s in the four. He’s spent this past season in the pair once more, partnering with Armand Pfister at the Europeans and World Rowing Cup III. He also rowed in the four at World Rowing Cup II.
There’s plenty of talent here, and the Northeastern athletes have already proved they’ve got good speed on the ultra-competitive US college stage. I think it will be tricky to throw this eight together quickly enough to be in with a realistic shot at winning – word on the street is that some of the athletes are only arriving on Thursday, and this boat has to go through qualifiers the following day. They should have the speed to qualify, and I think it will be a competitive unit, but given that Northeastern were a way off the likes of Princeton a few weeks ago, I can’t see a relatively scratch lineup being able to reverse that result.
Oxford Brookes University
An interesting one for Brookes. The holders of this event, Brookes have had a good run in the Ladies in recent years (often because so many of their guys have won the Temple or PA, they’re forced to step up to the intermediate event – not that it seems to daunt them). Last year particularly was an astounding year, where Brookes athletes took home every four and eight event in the student, intermediate and open categories. They were spoiled for choice with their personnel last year, though, and things are a little different now. Their top boat, which made waves a few weeks ago by beating the Dutch Olympic eight at Holland Beker, and just recently won Marlow Regatta with open water, is entering the Grand, and the second non-student crew appears to be in the Visitors’. The top-ranked students are in the Temple, and the second crew is the PA. That leaves the Ladies’ boat somewhat in limbo. Granted, they did well at Marlow to finish third (though behind a London Rowing Club crew that the CUBC Ladies’ boat were able to beat at the Metropolitan Regatta), but their lineup looked quite different – and stronger – than the lineup entered to Henley. I can only assume that world champion Sam Nunn, who rowed in the Ladies’ eight at Marlow, is soon to be moved up to strengthen the Grand eight, so it’s difficult to know exactly who is going to be in this crew – it’s best, I think, to go off the entry itself.
The Brookes entry does, of course, still contain a host of accomplished athletes, several of whom have already won at Henley Royal Regatta. Odhran Donaghy sits at bow; he’s seen the bow seat of a number of great Brookes eights, and won the Temple in that seat back in 2022. He’s joined by Connor McGillan at three, who also was in that 2022 Temple eight. Evan Falstrup-Fisker sits at six; he was bow of the PA-winning Brookes coxed four last year. At stroke, Jonathan Cameron is entered; he’s an experienced athlete who joined Brookes after four years at Boston University, and was in the Visitors’ four that defied odds to beat a strong Leander crew in the final last year. He does seem to be once again in the Visitors’ lineup, so it’s odd to see him entered here – that may well be amended soon. Coxing is Bakang Zondi, who coxed the PA boat to victory in 2023. The other athletes in this boat – Harry Crouch, George Bell, Robbert Kooiman and Archie Barker – have all had a ton of success this year at a myriad of events, including HORR, BUCS, and the international races that Brookes have been attending this summer. That being said, there is real quality in this field that Brookes may struggle to match – as mentioned, their result at Marlow doesn’t really suggest that Brookes is the frontrunner here. They are, of course, always a force to be reckoned with, and I fully expect to see Brookes heading into the weekend – even if winning here might be a tall order.
Princeton University
It’s been a great season for the Tigers – one of the best in recent memory. As the only full 1V boat in this field – and the boat that has gone fastest in a regatta on raw time (5:28.7 in the final at Eastern Sprints) – they are probably the favourites to take the win; a feat that Princeton has only managed once before, back in 2006. 2006 was also, of course, the last time that a Princeton 1V was undefeated throughout the duel-racing season – until this year.
Indeed, Princeton for a period seemed to be the form crew in the entire US circuit. After soundly beating Harvard (who had beaten Washington at the Sunshine State Invitation), and then dominating Yale in Ithaca, Princeton were the top-ranked US collegiate crew, and headed into Eastern Sprints with the weight of expectation on their shoulders. They almost managed to seal the deal and take home the gold, but were rowed through by a furiously fast Brown crew on the line, and had to settle for silver (though the Tigers did win the Rowe Cup – the team trophy – by taking gold in the 2V and the 3V). After the Sprints result, the Tigers seemed to falter a little early at the IRA championships, suffering an unhelpful defeat to Harvard in the heat. A strong performance in the semi-final saw them safely through to the A-Final, but the final itself seemed to get away from them a little; they were fourth, a way off California in third, and perhaps most frustratingly, Harvard in second. It will have stung for the Tigers, who seemed to really not put a foot wrong earlier in the season. But it will also mean that they are entering here with a point to prove. This is a really talented Princeton eight, and they will be champing at the bit to get the opportunity to enter their names into the annals of Princeton rowing history with a win here.
Their lineup has been unchanged throughout the season. Coxswain Connor Neill will take the Tigers down between the booms; he has a bronze medal from the IRAs in 2023, and two Sprints silvers. At stroke is Theo Bell, the Etonian and double-U23 world champion (in the BM8+ in 2022, and the BM4- in 2023). Captain Marco Misasi sits behind him at seven; Misasi is a Brazilian national who has really gone from strength to strength as a part of the Princeton program, and seems to have been at the heart of the Princeton resurgence in the past couple of years. Pat Long sits at six; an Aussie, Long has been part of the Princeton 1V for the past couple of years, and has also represented Australia at the U23 world championships twice, both times in the BM8+. At five is the immensely talented Marcus Chute. An athlete with exceptional power-to-weight and racing instinct, Chute won the Fawley with Windsor Boys back in 2022 and blew the field away in the single at GB Trials. He immediately stepped into the 1V as a freshman at Princeton, and was in the GB BM4X at U23s last year, finishing fourth. Hanno Brach sits at four; he has represented Germany at junior and U23 level, and has been in the 1V for the past two years. At three is Zach Vachal, who is one of two Americans in this crew. He was in the 1V back in 2022, but spent the 2023 season in the 2V; he stepped back up to the varsity this year. Yet another rower with U23 experience, he won a silver in the BM4+ for the USA at U23s in 2022. At two is Pat Shaw, who hails from Melbourne and stepped up to the 1V after spending 2023 in the 2V. He is the one of two members of this crew to have rowed for Princeton at Henley last year; he was in the Temple eight that lost to the eventual winners from Brookes on Day 2. At bow is Nick Taylor, who was in the strong Visitors’ four that Princeton fielded last year. He’s been in the 1V for the past two years, and has rowed at U23s twice – in the BM2- in 2022 (with fellow Princetonian Floyd Benedikter), and the BM8+ in 2023. Clearly, there is a ton of experience here, and these guys have also had the most consistency of any of these crews within their lineup. Given the season that they’ve had, and the people in this boat, I think Princeton will be entering here as favourites.
Thames Rowing Club
Thames have two eights entered here, with both having to go through the dreaded qualifiers this Friday if they want to have a chance to compete on the big stage. Their top boat certainly has a chance, and I think it will be tight between them and the Leander/Club Nautique composite. There is certainly a ton of Henley experience in Thames ‘A’, and I think it will stand them in good stead against the relatively scratch Northeastern crew. At bow is James Palmer, who won the Thames Cup way back in 2015. Max Ridgwell sits at two; he won the Thames Challenge Cup last year, and was the top man at Imperial before that. Old Abingdonian Henry Lambe sits at three – he rowed in the GB JM8+ back in 2014 at the junior world championships, and rowed at Newcastle. New recruit Felix Rawlinson sits at four, who rows at Dartmouth and was in the GB U23 BM8+ at the world championships last year that won gold. He’s joined at five by fellow Big Green athlete Max Deering, who rowed at Thames before heading to Dartmouth and has rejoined since graduating. He was part of the provisional GB U23 8+ that raced in the Ladies’ last year. At six is Jake Brown, who has really gone from strength to strength while at Thames, winning the Thames Cup back in 2021. Ben Thomson sits at seven; he rowed for Oxford in the Isis-Goldie race back in 2019. Stroking the boat is James Beattie, who was also part of the Thames-cup winning crew from 2021. In the coxing seat is Matthew Moran, who coxed at Durham before moving to Thames.
There’s a ton of experience here, but recent results will have worried the Thames boys. The Metropolitan Regatta at the start of the month started promising, with a second-placed finish to CUBC on the Saturday, but a loss to the London club eight on the Sunday will have been a bitter pill to swallow. Momentum does not appear to be on Thames’s side, either – at Marlow, the Ladies’ boat was well beaten by three Brookes eights, the Harvard lightweight Temple boat, and, once again, London RC. Granted, Thames aren’t facing London in the Ladies’ (that will be up to Thames’ Thames Cup boat), but the result suggests they’re probably a little off the pace for the standard of the Ladies’. That being said, if they can qualify and end up with a favourable draw, there might be a path to the weekend for this crew.
Thames Rowing Club and Tideway Scullers’ School
Finally, we have the classic provisional GB U23 eight, which this year is a Thames/Tideway composite crew. Generally, these crews are always strong but lack the polish and time together as a unit to win this event, though some have certainly gotten close. This looks to be a particularly physically powerful crew, and in a year where the Ladies’ is a bit of a smaller affair, and the top end perhaps slightly more attainable, I think these guys may have the potential to go all the way.
At bow is Farley Dimond-Brown, who has just completed his junior year at Cal, and who has spent the majority of his time in the strong 3/4V group – no mean feat in the Cal talent pool. At two is Rory Mcdonnell, who was part of the Teddies PE-winning crew from 2023, and who has just finished his freshman year at the University of Washington, stroking the strong Varsity four that won gold at the IRAs. Gabe Obholzer sits at three; he’s the powerhouse of this boat, and already has a U23 gold to his name from last year in the BM8+. He’s a Harvard oarsman, and helped the 1V to an unexpected silver medal at the IRAs this year. Former KCS oarsman Zac Day sits at four; he rowed in the BM4+ at U23s last year, winning a silver, and is currently at Yale. At five is Mack Carr, who has spent the past few years at Syracuse. Fellow ‘Cuse oarsman Ben Campbell-Reide sits at six, and Caspar Griffin occupies the seven-seat. Griffin rows at Stanford, and was also part of the 2022 BM4+ that won a silver. At stroke is his brother, Thomas Griffin, who rows at Brown. Coxing the boat is experienced steersman Zahir Ala, who coxes at Imperial and who was also in the 2022 BM4+.
There’s a good mix of talent here, with powerful units like Obholzer and Day balanced by some real technical precision at either end of the boat. These guys will be hungry to perform given the imminent influx of other U23s into the trialing system once Henley finishes; a good result here would potentially give these guys a leg-up once Final Trials kicks off in a couple of weeks. I could see these guys in the final, though I think the likes of Princeton will be difficult to beat.
Prediction
A few crews that could well compete for this, in what is probably the most open Ladies’ Challenge Plate in several years. I would really love to see the Princeton 1V face up against Cambridge University’s quasi-Boat Race crew – that would be a contest for the ages. Throw in the Thames/Tideway Scullers composite, Brookes and Leander crews and it makes a tricky one. I’m going for Princeton to edge out Cambridge or the U23 composite.
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