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: 17 (To be reduced to 12 by Qualifying Races)
Entries: 17
The two leading boats in the entry list are from Canada and Spain. Racing as Rowing Canada ‘A’ are Piper Battersby, Leia Till, Caroline De Paiva and Morgan Rosts. Rosts is the most experienced member of the crew; an U23 world champion back in 2018, she raced in the senior eight at the 2022 and 2023 world championships, winning a bronze medal in 2022 and placing fifth in 2023. Battersby also raced for the senior Canadian team at the 2023 world championships, finishing tenth in the four. Till celebrates her 23rd birthday on the eve of the opening day of the regatta and has raced at both U23 and senior level for Canada, placing sixth in the pair at the final World Rowing Cup in 2022 and then tenth in the four at the last World Rowing Cup of 2023. The only member of the crew yet to race on the senior Canadian team is De Paiva; she raced for the U23 team in the BW8 in 2022.
Spain’s entry (Team Espana) has three athletes who raced unsuccessfully at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta in May – Teresa Díaz Moreno from the LW2X plus Iria Jarama Diaz and Olivia Del Castillo from the four. The final member of the crew is Izaskun Echaniz Rodriguez. The latter three were in the crew that finished 13th at the 2023 world championships. Diaz Moreno was 13th in the lightweight single at the 2023 regatta in Belgrade and has also rowed at the World Coastal championships, winning a silver medal in the CW4X+ in 2022.
Canada has a second crew racing (Rowing Canada ‘B’). This is a young U23 boat, with Lyndsey Bryden, Stasia Bittman, Autumn Crowe and Teagan Orth. Bryden won bronze in the U23 BW8 last year and the other three all step up from the U19 team.
The leading British challengers will be Leander Club ‘A’. This crew includes two of the crew that recently won the Avril Vellacott Cup for championship coxless fours at Henley Women’s Regatta in Abigail Topp and Philippa Emery. The other two members of the crew are Lauren Casey and Ella Bramwell. Topp, Emery and Casey were all in the British BW4- last year that finished fourth. Both Topp and Casey won silver at U23 level in 2022. Bramwell, an Aussie, raced in the Australian eight at the 2022 world championships, placing fifth. She also raced in the Aussie eight at the opening World Rowing Cup of 2024.
Molesey Boat Club were runners-up to Leander at Henley Women’s Regatta. They have an experienced multinational line-up, with senior international Ella Cossill from New Zealand along with Dutch U23 world champion Lisa Goossens and former U23 GB internationals Megan Slabbert and Angharad Broughton. Cossill rowed for New Zealand in the four at the 2023 world championships, placing seventh.
The Netherlands have one full entry and another as part of a composite. The full entry is Utrechtsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Triton and Algemene Utrechtse Studenten Roeivereniging Orca, Netherlands. Their line-up is Isis Meruma, Eleonore Veldman, Lydia Knevel and Wia Ruiter. They raced at the Holland Beker, but didn’t progress from their heat. Last weekend, they competed at the Bled International Regatta, taking the win in the four against crews from Austria and Hungary.
The Dutch composite is Oxford University and Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands. The Stewards have asked this crew to qualify and their line-up includes OUBC President Ella Stadler along Oxford squad member Sierra Sparks and lightweight Blue India Mattocks. The Dutch representative is Mia Freischem of Nereus.
The University of Washington have come with an international line-up of graduate students featuring two Americans, a Brit and an Aussie. The Americans in the boat are Christiana Congdon and Elena Collier-Hezel. The Australian is Nikki Martincic and the Brit Abby Adebiyi. Congdon did her undergraduate studies at Yale and then became a Grad student at UW. She won the 2V at the NCAA’s with Yale and at Washington she rowed in the 2V that placed fourth at the NCAA’s. Collier-Hazel was an undergrad at Michigan. She was also in the UW2V this season. Australian Martincic was an undergrad at UW and stayed on for her Grad studies. She was in the 1V that finished sixth at the NCAA’s and has also represented Australia at the U23 world championships in 2019. Adebiyi is another athlete who stayed on at UW after her undergrad studies and was also in the 2V this season.
Another US entry is Boston University. As with the Huskies, they have a very cosmopolitan line-up with Bianca Saffirio and Camilla Silvestri from Italy, Viktoria Zruttova from Slovakia and American Reagan Lynch. Saffirio was in the Boston 1V with the other three having raced in the 2V. The Stewards have asked this crew to race qualifiers on Friday.
Prediction
I’m going for Canada ‘A’ to take the title.
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