For many universities, Henley Women’s Regatta is the pinnacle of the rowing calendar which pulls their season to a close, marking for some the end of their university racing career. Stringent eligibility criteria for aspirational events mean that new combinations of athletes can be thrown together, meaning that these crews often haven’t raced together before, adding to create some exciting and unpredictable racing.
This year, 26 crews have entered, all of whom will race a 1500-metre time trial. After, the top 16 crews will qualify for side-by-side racing knock-out stages until Sunday afternoon declares the victorious crew.
Imperial College BC
The winners of the category last year, Imperial, have something to live up to. Three members of this crew raced in an intermediate coxed four together at BUCS Regatta, coming second in the C Final, and have since seemed to have found a more effective combination with Zara Burgess. The new crew raced at Metropolitan Regatta, placing as the third then improving to second fastest university coxless four in the academic category between both days of the regatta. This solid result shows evidential signs of plenty of time in the crew together, which means that Imperial could be set to repeat last year’s success.
Oxford Brookes University BC
Brookes are known to target the eights predominantly, and so while the rowers selected for this four might not have reached the top end of the squad yet, they’ll be hoping to write their own history to initiate a reputation of indomitability in the other boat classes too. This selection of athletes appears to be pooled from the third and fourth eight of rowers, who consistently top the performance of most universities’ first boats in an impressive display of depth amongst the squad. Last year, Brookes’ four made the final, so there is no doubt they will settle for anything less this time.
Durham University BC
Durham appeared to be testing different combinations seen by their entry of two coxed fours at the recent Metropolitan Regatta, with the likely intention of fielding two strong crews for Henley Women’s Regatta where they both were set to race; however, due to likely illness and injury, these plans didn’t come to fruition. This small bump in the road won’t have phased these rowers who have competed in Durham’s second eight together this year, which recently won the Women’s Elite Eight at Durham Regatta and came fifth in the A Final of Intermediate Eights at BUCS Regatta.
Newcastle University BC
After a strong performance last year, making it to the semi-finals, Newcastle will be hoping for another solid performance. This crew is comprised of the top four athletes from their third eight who came fourth in the C Final at BUCS Regatta. Despite not having raced together yet, this crew has spent plenty of time training in this combination, and with members of the crew targeting spots in the second eight, they are sure to be competitive.
University of London BC
This crew appears to have spent a lot of time together, having raced in a coxed four at BUCS Regatta, where they came sixth in the D Final of Intermediate Coxed Fours. Although this result alone might not mark this UL crew as an imminent threat to their opposition, there has been plenty of time for growth and development since BUCS and time together in a set crew is a competitive edge that many crews in this category won’t possess.
International Entries
Ten of the twenty-six entries this year are made up of international crews, eight of which are fielded by a large contingent of Dutch rowers. With fewer entries expected into the open categories of Henley Royal Regatta due to the Olympics, these universities may be targeting events such as the Town Challenge Cup over the more oversubscribed events such as the Island Challenge Cup and will be using Henley Women’s to test their speed down the track. It’s incredibly unlikely that these universities, especially A.S.R Nereus, which has entered three fours into the event, would send crews that didn’t have the potential to make the later stages of the regatta, and so I expect all of the international entries to qualify and h make it past the heats, which take place on Friday after the time trial.
Prediction
Imperial has a well-cemented history of success in fours, and after winning the category at Metropolitan Regatta (which has the same eligibility criteria as Henley Women’s Regatta), they look to be in a strong position to defend their title. I think that their main competition will come from Durham and Oxford Brookes, though I expect to see strong representation from the Netherlands well into the Sunday of the regatta. With three side-by-side rounds of this category taking place on Sunday, it will be a dog fight of grit and endurance to see who comes out on top.
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