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Thames Rowing Club, the first winners of the new Bridge Challenge Plate, an event for women with the same qualification rules as the men’s intermediate eights race, The Ladies’ Plate.
14 July 2025
By Tim Koch
Tim Koch’s images of the two categories of racing at Henley that are still moving towards gender equality.
Leander won the Ladies’ Plate for the first time since 2022. It was a disappointing regatta for Brookes by their standards, they reached four finals but had no wins. A strong tailwind in the afternoon produced some fast times, not least in the Visitors’.Leander and Tideway Scullers broke the existing event record by six seconds.In the Prince of Wales, the German U23 crew raced as Bonner Ruder-Gesellschaft and Erster Kieler Ruder-Club. They defeated a Marlow crew that did exceptionally well to reach the final against strong domestic and foreign opposition.Thames pushed off in wet conditions for the final of the Bridge but it did not dampen their determination.It may have been the first showing for the Bridge, but it attracted top quality entries and gave the impression that it had been around for as long as its open counterpart, the Ladies’ Plate.Opposite the Progress Board, Thames can taste victory.Brookes put out a top class crew but to no avail.Thames won convincingly by 1 3/4 lengths.London had not been in a Thames Cup final since they last won it in 2006.This year, not only did London reach the final, they won it and won it against old rivals Thames.The race was a rerun of last year’s semi-final against Thames, but this time London were the victors. LRC beats TRC by 3/4 length.A victory that is a long time coming is usually sweeter.London supporters in the LRC launch, Cassamajor, salute their winning crew.London celebration in the traditional way.Overexcited, “7” attempts to walk on water.Rudderless and finless. On their way to the final against Sydney, London hit a log but felt that the boat was undamaged. In the race, they were half a length up at the 1/4 mile when their steering became erratic and they clashed with the Australians. Possibly, a screw holding the damaged fin had finally dropped out. The race was rescheduled for just under two-and-a-half hours later.Both crews went off at high rates at the start of the rescheduled race, but London led by a length at the Barrier and two-and-a-half lengths by Fawley.It was a confident row by London who repeated their 2023 win.A 3 1/2 length victory for LRC.London’s Wyfold and Thames crews.
The big headline is that Thames Rowing Club failed to win more than one club event at Henley Royal Regatta for the first time since 2019. In collecting The Britannia Challenge Cup plus the…Bridge Challenge Plate, it’s a stretch to categorise this innings as a failure, particularly in light of the fact that they made the final of The Thames Challenge Cup and lost to the winner of The Wargrave Challenge Cup on the Saturday. However, it is a sign of the changing times that London Rowing Club won both The Thames and Wyfold Challenge Cups in majestic style, sparking huge celebrations for Stu Heap’s programme and a timely reminder that club rowing in this country has never been healthier.
Thames win the Brit for the fourth year in a row.Last ten strokes!Thames beat London and gained revenge for LRC beating TRC in the Thames Cup four hours earlier.One length – that will do.In the final of the fifth year of the Wargrave, Molesey beat Leander in a time of 6:47, breaking the previous record by 19 seconds and ending Thames’ three-year winning run.Molesey set an event record that could well last a long time.
Hear The Boat Sing 