25 June 2024

The best-attended Henley Women’s Regatta in history came to an end on Sunday 24 June with fiercely contested finals that saw some clubs make it three wins in a row, and others take their first trophies, Henley Women’s Regatta writes in a press release.

Oxford Brookes University and Thames Rowing Club won the Colgan Foundation Cup for aspirational academic eights and the Copas Cup for aspirational club eights, respectively, each for a third year running. Leander Club added the Avril Vellacott Cup for championship coxless fours, also for a third year in a row. Oxford Brookes also retained the Ron Needs Cup for championship eights.

Meanwhile Wycliffe College’s outstanding crew made it back-to-back victories in the Bea Langridge Trophy for junior quadruple sculls, with two of the crew – Violet Holsbrow-Brooksbank and Lily Martin – racing both in 2023 and 2024.

Scottish crews showed their quality in the coxed fours events. Edinburgh University won the Frank V Harry Cup for development coxed fours once more, after lifting the trophy in 2023.

Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association won the Groton School Challenge Cup for junior coxed fours, for the second time in three years. Glasgow Academy won the event in 2021 and 2023, meaning there has been a Scottish stranglehold on this cup for four years now.

The Chairman’s Trophy for aspirational quadruple sculls stayed in the Netherlands, with ARSR Skadi from Rotterdam defeating 2023 champions USR Triton by just over 1.5 seconds. Skadi delighted prizegiving attendees with a rousing rendition of their club song, before hurrying off to catch a plane home.

Both championship single sculls races – the George Innes Cup and the Godfrey Rowsports Trophy – also went overseas. Sophie Egnot-Johnson of Waikato Rowing Club, New Zealand, won the openweight event while Riona McCormick of Schuylkill Navy High Performance Collaborative won the lightweight trophy.

2024 also saw the return of the Grosvenor Cup for PR3 single sculls, won by Samantha Gough of St Andrew’s Boat Club in a record time of 6:52. This was the only event with a new record during the weekend, thanks to a stiff headwind on Friday and Saturday and calmer conditions on Sunday.

The regatta was not all about winning. A number of clubs entered for the first time.

Brentford Boat Club qualified for the side-by-side racing in the West End Amateur Rowing Association Trophy for junior 16 coxed fours, while Streatham & Clapham High School qualified two boats, and reached the quarter-finals of the Rayner Cup for junior double sculls. Windermere Rowing Club was another first-time entrant.

The trophies were presented by former HWR chairman and Olympic silver medallist Miriam Luke, who told competitors that the regatta’s expansion to more than 2,300 athletes this year was a reflection of their hard work as well as the growth of women’s rowing.

She was joined by representatives of sponsors including the Copas family and the Colgan Foundation, as well as two-time Olympic and eight-time world champion Eric Murray, who presented Dart Totnes Amateur Rowing Club with the Haslam Trophy for championship lightweight double sculls.

For more results and information on the regatta, visit hwr.org.uk.