The Ron Needs Championship Eights is arguably the most competitive event at Henley Women’s. Featuring a mixture of crews who will race the Remenham, Island and Wargrave at Henley Royal, this is a real highlight of the racing calendar for women. The strict eligibility criteria of aspirational, academic and club events means anyone with any international experience at U23 level or above, international medallists at U19 level, GBRT closed trial invitees, previous winners of HWR aspirational or championship, Oxbridge blues and BUCS regatta championship gold medallists are all classed into this category. With 19 entrants and 16 to qualify for the knockouts, just the time trial will be tough to get through.
Oxford Brookes
Brookes return as champions from 2023. A, B and C crews are all entered in this category, once again demonstrating the strength in depth of their programme. Brookes A boat is likely to be the crew that will race the Remenham at HRR, two weeks after HWR. Featuring Arianna Forde, Grace Richards, Brenna Randall, Rhianna Sumpter and Martha Birtles, all of whom emerged victorious at HWR last year, the crew is full of experienced and successful athletes, many of whom have already worn international vests. They will want to assert their dominance in this event and only first place should satisfy them.
Brookes B could emerge as Brookes A’s biggest competitor. Both crews had some tough racing earlier this month at Holland Beker, with the ‘B’ boat finishing just 0.5 seconds behind in second place, comfortably clear of all over crews. Their line-up looks to be all academically eligible athletes, with a number of them having claimed gold at BUCS last month. The Island will be the target for this crew, and putting down a huge performance this weekend would send out a message to all their other academic competitors.
Leander/Imperial/Oxford
A composite of predominantly Leander athletes, with the additions of Annie Sharp from Oxford and Lizzie Witt from Imperial, this boat could pose a threat. The crew will not have been together long as many of the athletes in it will have just returned from the States whilst others are new to the programme. The addition of Witt at stroke is a boost to the boat. Having won the championship coxless pair at HWR in 2023, she narrowly missed repeating this feat at HRR and is an impressive development athlete. The rest of the crew are all strong athletes in their own right and if they can gel together, they could be dangerous. Leander’s eights have struggled during the summer season in recent years, and this boat will not want to fall into the same trap. The excitement of a new crew and new faces could carry them through to a semi-final at least.
Leander
This Leander boat is full of Wargrave eligible athletes as they again attempt to topple the recent Thames monopoly of the event. Their “B” boats have struggled to find their rhythm this year, often finishing at the bottom of A-finals, comfortably beaten by the likes of Thames, Durham and Newcastle. Results such as these for a club of Leander’s stature can only be seen as disappointing and they will hope to turn this around. Gaining confidence from the time trial and early rounds could help them to do so. They have more than enough talent to cause some upsets.
Thames
The Thames squad is something to behold and the fleet of eights they put out week in week out is nothing short of remarkable, and they again have two boats competing in this category alone. They are improving year on year, but victory in this event continues to evade them. Routine winners in the Aspirational Club Eights and the Wargrave at Henley Royal, if they are to truly class themselves as one of, if not the, top female club in the country, they surely have to add this to their trophy cabinet. At Wallingford in May, their ‘A’ boat placed six seconds behind Leander’s top boat, reducing this to three seconds at the Metropolitan Regatta a month later. With Leander’s top boat split into a four and pair this weekend, it is likely that Brookes will again pose the biggest threat to Thames. Yet to face off against each other this season, Thames will be hoping for revenge after being beaten by Brookes in the final last year.
Durham, Newcastle, Edinburgh and University of London
The British university entrants into this event have exchanged blows all season. Ineligible for the academic category at Henley Women’s, these boats will be hoping for some strong results this weekend ahead of competing in the Island in two weeks time. All four have been hard to separate: at BUCS Regatta, Durham placed second, UL third, Newcastle fifth and Edinburgh sixth whilst at the Metropolitan Regatta, Newcastle were third, Durham fourth, UL fifth and Edinburgh sixth, all separated by just two seconds. Should they face each other in any rounds next weekend, the races will be fierce and tight all the way to the line. These crews will all feature athletes for whom this will be amongst their final races for their university so they will want to finish on a high.
International Crews
As usual, Henley Women’s Regatta has attracted an impressive number of international crews. Competing for the Ron Needs Cup are five crews who have journeyed from abroad to contest this famous trophy. Four of these are from American universities: Rhode Island, Iowa and two from Trinity College. K S R V Njord from the Netherlands complete the line up. The American crews look to be the ones to keep an eye on. Rhode Island recently posted their best team finish at the NCAA’s, placing 20th in the team standings. Iowa have not travelled to the UK since 2018, where they were beaten in the semi-finals at this regatta. This year they have struggled, placing eighth at Big-10 and not competing at the NCAAs. With British home grown talents Emma Dabinett and Scarlett Maleham in the crew, they may be boosted by the prestige of racing on the Henley stretch again. Trinity’s varsity eight placed fourth in Division 3 at NCAAs; this looks to be their first time at Henley, an exciting prospect for the crews.
Prediction
Brookes ‘A’ form looks to be imperious and going back-to-back at Henley Women’s Regatta would continue to assert their dominance. The luck of the draw will come in to play, and whether Thames A or Brookes B face them in the final will be interesting. Expect both to push them hard, but ultimately this Brookes ‘A’ crew know how to win tight races. All three of these will comprise the semi-final line up, alongside the composite from Leander/Imperial/Oxford. From the round of 16 onwards, I expect all the races in this event to be filled with excitement and tension – it really is an event to watch out for the whole weekend!
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