There was a point during the Sunday afternoon of Henley Women’s Regatta where we reached an almost utopian state of bliss. The wind had dropped to nothing more than a whisper and the sun was beaming down upon Oxfordshire, enriching the vivid colours of patchwork English field interspliced by the curvature of the Thames. The racing was fast, frantic, furious and the atmosphere peaking as if taking a deep breath before the relentlessness of the next two weeks.
Henley Women’s Regatta is more than just a preview of Henley Royal – it is a blossoming exhibition of outstanding female competition, set in one of the world’s most iconic rowing locations. Every year, the regatta seems to scale new heights, whether that be in terms of coverage, entry list, racing fervour or off-water celebration. As in 2023, it was my pleasure to serve on the live stream in a sorry attempt to enhance the pictures that a new broadcast team brought to our screens. I was lucky enough to cover all of the finals throughout the afternoon and, from my multi-screen vantage point, racked up enough oversight to put some of my initial reflections down on paper…
Championship Events
Oxford Brookes retained their Ron Needs Cup title in the eight, slashing and slicing their way down the course to dispatch crews including Newcastle’s top boat and a compelling composite from Leander, IC and Oxford University. The latter, if they opt to compete in the Remenham at Henley Royal Regatta, will only get quicker and Brookes will be well aware of that. It is not in the nature of Chris Tebb’s athletes to rest on their laurels and their pursuit of a crowning glory on Henley Royal Sunday has got off to a flying start.
In the quad, the development crew from Twickenham, Trentham and Nottingham Rowing Club – who will surely sustain themselves on the pathway to LA – were deserved winners over holders Leander Club. The coxless four and pairs both went the way of the pink palace though, despite some errant steering in the opening exchanges from messers Standing and Perry. The latter duo will be turning with some interest to the Hambleden Pairs Challenge Cup and the possibility of facing up to a number of international crews who lost out on their Olympic prospects.
The openweight double was secured by the exciting combination of Keto and Bates (Oxford Brookes and Thames), who only just returned last week from World Rowing Cup 3, whilst the lightweight category saw Laura Macro win her second Henley Women’s Regatta title in a row for Dart Totnes. Both singles went overseas, with Sophie Egnot-Johnson of Waikato Rowing Club, New Zealand sculling away from Sarah McKay of Grosvenor Rowing Club in the second half of their final after Riona McCormick saw off the challenge of Clíodhna Nolan.
Aspirational
Whizzing through, the performances that stood out were Oxford Brookes taking yet another win in the academic eight category. Their program continues to go from strength to strength and it will take something remarkable to stop them from retaining their Island Challenge Cup crown. London Rowing Club are back in business with a clinical display that saw them win the club coxless four. One would now assume these girls will jump into the eight to strengthen the crew that lost out to Thames Rowing Club in the final of the club eights.
A nod must also go to Durham University, who raced furiously in their semi-final whilst their opposition from Nereus got a row-over. Not to be deterred, the palatinate party powered down the Henley stretch to win the academic coxless fours by over eight seconds. Hartpury University and College took the doubles title with national junior silver medalist Catherine Gardner on-board.
Junior
As always, I looked forward to these trophies the most and they did not disappoint. Headington reversed the result from the National Schools’ Regatta four weeks ago, retaining the Peabody Cup for junior eights despite a strong Hinksey start. Wycliffe, whose own personal canon of hyperbole has likely been exhausted at this point, completely dominated the Bea Langridge trophy, winning their final against Marlow by a staggering 13 seconds.
Following the trend of national champions collecting more silverware on the Henley stretch, Aberdeen won the Groton School Cup for junior coxed fours and will now jump in the quad for Henley Royal Regatta. Hartpury rounded off a brilliant season in the double, triumphing against a Lea crew who will surely come again in seasons to follow. Wycliffe’s Lily Anderson brought home their second win of the day, cementing Greg Flower’s program as the ones to beat in junior women’s sculling.
Henley retained their title in the Nina Padwick Trophy for junior 16 quads whilst Godolphin and Latymer won every race by three lengths or more in the West End Amateur Rowing Association Trophy.
Development
All hail Edinburgh, the undisputed kings of the ‘novice’ coxed four. They retained their title in the Frank V Harry Cup, dominating Upper Thames in the final to win by over four lengths. Can anyone halt the Scottish baby blue brigade?
PR3 Single
It was wonderful to see the Regatta including an event for future Paralympic prospects. The final, which was won by Samantha-Louise Gough of St Andrew Boat Club, was not a close contest but the fact that this category is now on the docket should continue to encourage crews to enter.
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