Henley Royal Regatta 2024 – The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup Preview

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.

Before JRN decided to implement standard opening paragraphs across all of our previews, I wrote the below as my introduction. Seeing as I am occasionally prone to a touch of Henley-related hyperbole, I thought I would leave this in my article as another tribute to my favourite event of the year…

There is no doubting that Saturday at Henley Royal Regatta is lively. Marking the start of the British summer season, thousands throng the bank to catch a glimpse of their favourite crew or, perhaps more importantly, in an attempt to secure a seat near a bar in a bustling Stewards’ Enclosure. Generally, races are well-received and the decibel level occasionally threatens the reputational limiter as the stately conduct so often observed on those trimmed green lawns bubbles over in a moment of partisanship.

And then there’s the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. Cascading down towards the grandstands like a wave of noise, the support from thousands thronged on the bank is matched only by the intensity of the battle on the water. Two crews, locked in unison, so often separated by the narrowest of margins, each straining every last sinew to reach the promised land of schoolboy rowing. There is no roar quite like the roar that greets the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup as it makes its way down a resplendent Henley Royal Regatta course.

Total Entries: 41 (To be reduced to 32 by Qualifying Races)

St Paul’s School

This crew will be desperate to re-claim the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. They are the form crew, at least domestically, with both the Schools’ Head of the River and National Schools’ Regatta titles wrapped up. It is has to be said that the hype around this richly-talented crew does appear to have diminished somewhat and comparisons to that epic eight of 2018 have certainly subsided. There is no doubting that this is a vintage crew for St Paul’s – they have two junior world champions on-board in Felix Peerless and Alp Karadogan alongside fellow junior internationals Philip Wolfensberger, Patrick Wild and Alec Wild. Their performance at Marlow was strong, and should be viewed in the important context that they’re still the quickest junior crew on the UK circuit by some three seconds, but the chasing pack aren’t going away. Bobby Thatcher is acutely aware of that, not least because he identified it when I briefly spoke to him after their victory at the National Schools’ Regatta. The standard in schoolboy rowing continues to rise and St Paul’s must find new levels of excellence to elevate themselves above the rest.

Radley College

Perhaps the only consistency in high performance across the past 20 years, Radley are both the journeymen and the nearly-men of schoolboy rowing. Every year, they get tantalisingly close to the summit before falling in sight of the finish. In 2023, they were beaten semi-finalists and in 2022 came even closer, falling on the Sunday to St Paul’s. They were silver medalists at the National Schools’ Regatta so, by that logic, qualify as the obvious candidate to threaten the boys from Hammersmith. Sam Townsend will have been hard at work, cooking up the distinctive Radley spurt that tends to occur around Henley Royal Regatta, and if he can get it right, this crew could be a real threat. Three of this crew raced at the Munich International Regatta back in May and two junior world champions on-board in Gabriel George and Robert Rawlinson. Given one of these only returned to rowing a couple of weeks before the showdown at Dorney in May, we could be in for a pretty compelling contest.

St Edward’s School

The holders return with speed blossoming at just the right time. Following a sixth-placed finish at the National Schools’ Regatta – which probably was not the hard landing into regatta season this group wanted – they bounced back to finish fifth in the ‘B’ final of championship eights at Marlow Regatta but critically only a handful of seconds behind St Paul’s (worth caveating they had a Brookes rower on-board at Marlow). Teddies had a group brimming with power and tenacity in 2023 and they will need to imbue more than just the spirit of yesteryear if they’re to take on the field at Henley Royal Regatta. With 16-year-old Felix Jamieson back steering this crew following his victory last year, they’re in safer hands than most.

Shiplake College

Ah, Shiplake. They’re a crew I find myself willing to do well at regattas, if only to dispel the myth that they fall apart during the summer season. They won their first National Schools’ Regatta championship eight medal in five years at the end of May, which could prove to be the platform they need to accelerate on. They were sixth in the ‘B’ final at Marlow on Saturday, two seconds back on Teddies and five back on St Paul’s, which is a gap they’ll be hoping to close in the next week. We’ve seen it done before – Radley and St Paul’s came from nowhere in 2022 to shock the field and claim the Sunday berths. If Shiplake get a good draw – which, let’s face it, is half the battle at Henley Royal Regatta – I could see a weekend slot with their name on it. They’d do well to avoid the three crews above until then, but with the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup as stacked as it has ever been, perils lie all over the entry roster.

Eton College

Ever-present at the business end of junior rowing, Eton’s consistency is to be admired. The 2022 campaign will have stung for this great institution. Not only were they denied a victory in a year when many had them as strong favourites but they were also prevented from winning three Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup titles in a row. With head coach Mark Fangen-Hall taking on the top job at Oxford University from September, this will be an uniquely compelling campaign for Eton, who have already had a slightly unusual year. After pulling out of the Schools’ Head of the River, they enjoyed a really strong showing at the National Schools’ Regatta, finishing fourth but sitting in second until the last 300m. They slipped back a little in terms of timing at Marlow, finishing 21st in the time-trial (eight seconds back on St Edward’s, the quickest junior crew) and winding up seventh in the ‘C’ final, only a second clear of Latymer Upper and behind Teddies, St Paul’s, Shiplake and KCS.

King’s College School, Wimbledon

Winners of the ‘C’ final at Marlow Regatta – in a time that would have been competitive with crews like St Edward’s and Shiplake over in the ‘B’ final – KCS will probably view this Henley campaign from two possible angles. One could be that a weekend spot for this boat would represent a real achievement in the context of a season that has seen the boys from Putney bounce around the table (from third at the Schools’ Head of the River to fifth at the National Schools’ Regatta). The other is that, given the chaotic nature of the crews posturing behind St Paul’s, there might even be an opportunity for this group to steal a march on the peloton and steal into Sunday. How the draw unfolds will be an indicator of the art of the possible.

Westminster School

Having run St Paul’s very close at the Metropolitan Regatta – reaching the ‘A’ final and getting within four seconds of the national champions – Westminster will likely have been a little disappointed to have only made the ‘D’ final at Marlow. It was a race that they won by a second over a crew from Oxford Brookes in a time that would have put them sixth in the ‘C’ final and clear of both Eton and Latymer. They’re right in the race for a weekend slot in my view, but the draw will again be a key dictatorial factor in how far they are likely to progress. In a season where this group lost their head coach, Josh Butler, to Hampton, steadying the ship and producing a competitive eight should always have been the aim. I would say they’ve done that.

Hampton School

Are Hampton back? This is certainly the first time in a long time that they have featured so prominently in my Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup preview and there seems to have been a real resurgence under new head coach, Josh Butler, whose aforementioned departure from Westminster was a rare lateral in a coaching cohort that generally remains consistent. Hampton’s top crew did not race at Marlow but their placement in the A-final of the National Schools’ Regatta – combined with their top-ten finish at the Schools’ Head of the River – means this is a boat club that is finally and incrementally back on the rise.

Princeton National Rowing Association, U.S.A.

The first of our overseas entrants to this year’s edition of the Henley Royal Regatta, Princeton National Rowing Association arrive into England as the fifth-fastest crew out of the USA. They achieved this feat at the USRowing Youth National Championships a few weeks ago and were three seconds back on RowAmerica Rye, winners in a time of 5:52. PNRA were fifth in youth eights at the Head of the Charles in October and also wound up second at the 2024 edition of Mercer Sprints. In qualifying for the nationals, they also finished second at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals in the youth eight. This crew bares hallmarks to the likes of Marin and Greenwich, who came over to play last year. If they can go deeper into the competition than Marin – who were knocked out on the Friday by Shiplake – that would be a great innings.

Saugatuck Rowing Club, U.S.A.

Seventh in the USRowing Youth National Championships, Saugatuck got off to a blinding start to their 23/24 season. They were second at the Head of the Charles, behind only St Paul’s School, and then won the Head of the Schuylkill before finishing third at the San Diego Crew Classic. They finished second at the USRowing Northeast Youth Championships, behind Greenwich who finished 0.2 seconds ahead of them at the nationals two weeks alter. With athletes heading off to a number of reputable colleges in the fall – including Princeton, Syracuse and Penn – this is another competitive outfit from the USA.

Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, U.S.A.

Southeast regional champions in the Varsity eight, this is not Belen Jesuit’s first rodeo on the Henley course. They were present in 2015, losing out on day one to Shawnigan Lake School from Canada. This crew have built steadily through the year, finishing third at the Head of the Hooch in November before securing the American Youth Cup in February. Their regular season ended with them winning the B-final of the youth eight at the USRowing Youth National Championships but that result does not tell the whole story. They were fifth in the time-trial, ahead of both PNRA and Saugatuck, and were in third at the 1000m of their semi-final before just missing out on A-final progression by 0.3 seconds. They comfortably won their final and might be a crew with vengeance on the mind.

Hamilton Boys’ High School, New Zealand

Finally, we have the Maadi Cup winners over at Henley Royal Regatta. According to local chatter in their native New Zealand, this Hamilton Boys’ crew are very fast and a reel posted on Instagram just a couple of days ago is going to do little to quell that chatter. They are the national champions in their home country and come to England with one thing in mind – to emulate the likes of Scotch College’s 2017 cohort in stealing the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup away from the clutches of the British hive. This boat were also winners of the Springbok Shield and Dunstan Trophy at the 2024 NZ Secondary School Regatta for coxed fours and pairs respectively, alongside a win in the North Island Rowing Championships in the eight. The crew are currently training out of Ely, Cambridgeshire and the expectation is that this will be one of the faster international entries.

The Southport School, Australia

Another crew venturing across continents to chance their arm at the world’s most prestigious Regatta, Southport are, on paper at least, the second fastest schoolboy crew out of Australia in 2024. They were second at the Australian Rowing Championships in March and won the Brisbane GPS Head of the River in a pretty speedy time of 5:45. They were also victors at the Queensland State Championships, the Anglican Church Grammar School Regatta and the Brisbane State High School Regatta so there is nothing to doubt their advanced credentials. The questions that always bugs me about antipodean entrants of the junior variety is whether they can time their peak to coincide with Henley Royal Regatta. Their nationals were over three months ago so cultivating both the physical and mental aptitude in time for another go around the heat chamber that is competitive sport can be challenging.

Schülerruderverein Alter Teichweg, Germany

Back in 2024 after a disappointing Henley Royal Regatta campaign in 2023, the Germans from Teichweg will be desperate to progress beyond day one. They were pretty unlucky last year in drawing the eventual winners from St Edward’s School on the Tuesday and return in 2024 with a crew that, apparently, placed first at the German School championships in the eight (in process winning the Schülerachtercup). Tazir Ben in the seven-seat was in the junior world spare pair last summer whilst this crew also placed first in the junior eight at the Ghent International May Regatta. Not sure they’ll have the legs to stay with the fastest British and American boats but a viable entrant nonetheless.

Latymer Upper School

Are we seeing the start of something special from Latymer? They’ve had a really good season, finishing seventh overall at the Schools’ Head of the River before a slightly disappointing National Schools’ Regatta, where they slipped back into tenth overall and second in the ‘B’ final. Marlow was a real resurgence though, when they clocked a strong time-trial to finish a second shy of Eton before finishing as the sixth-highest placing junior crew on the day. Getting through a round – or two – would represent strong progress for this group.

Prediction

All year, I’ve been waxing lyrical about this St Paul’s School unit. They row so beautifully and have such a plethora of talented athletes, including three former Henley Royal Regatta winners on-board. They have already collected numerous titles through the season, including two of the holy schoolboy trinity in the Schools’ Head of the River and the National Schools’ Regatta. All that said, there is a creeping sense that the field are closing in. Having made the mistake of writing St Paul’s off a couple of times before, I know how much faster they tend to get into Henley Royal Regatta and I expect their A-game to be on full display next week. I do believe they’ll have too much for this field; I just hope that my unfortunate habit of incorrectly predicting the winner of the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup in my last three previews doesn’t manifest itself once again.

Behind St Paul’s, I think St Edward’s and Radley are the two fastest UK entrants. I am intrigued to see how Hamilton Boys School of New Zealand get on in particular – you don’t travel halfway around the world if you’re not pretty speedy. From the outset, those are my four semi-finalists.

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