After two days of drag-racing against a stiff headwind at Henley Women’s Regatta 2026, finals day brought a shift in conditions which produced a scintillating set of finals.
Photo Flag waving umpire at Henley Women’s Regatta 2026
The friendly tailwind blowing down the Henley straight meant that several records fell or were equalled, most notably in the Borne Cup for championship quadruple sculls, and the Peabody Cup for junior eights.
Headington School claimed the Peabody Cup for the fourth time in a row, the seventh time in the last 10 regattas and the 10th time in their history. Blasting to a four-length win over Lady Eleanor Holles School, Headington obliterated the previous course record of 4:46 by five seconds, lowering it to 4:41.
Quads flying ahead of Henley Royal Regatta debut
The Borne Cup champions, Nottingham Rowing Club and Reading University, lowered the previous course record by five seconds – from 4:48 to 4:43 – as they were pushed to the line by Molesey Boat Club in their semifinal. Leander A, in the second semifinal, also went under the old record. Not to be outdone, the composite matched the old record again in the final later in the day.
The event saw its strongest entry in years, with 14 crews racing, up from just four in 2025, boosted by the introduction of the new intermediate, student and club quadruple sculls events at Henley Royal Regatta. The Borne Cup participants will be split between these three trophies at HRR, with other entrants preparing their campaigns for the Queen Victoria Challenge Cup (student) and Danesfield Challenge Cup (club) via the newly split ‘aspirational’ quadruple sculls races at HWR.
Reading University A emerged as the champions of the Nina Padwick Trophy for academic quadruple sculls, defeating the University of London by two lengths in the final and establishing a course record of 5:00 in the process.
Felicity Cox, who sat at two in the winning crew, said: “The addition of the new quad events at Henley Royal Regatta has created a clear pathway for crews like ours, and HWR has been the perfect stepping stone for us to represent Reading University in the academic quad event.”
Reading coach Simon Williamson added: “It was really cool to win the first ever aspirational academic quads event at HWR, it’s been a great source of motivation for the squad through the season with many of the athletes competing hoping to go on and race in the Queen Victoria at HRR in a few weeks’ time. A very exciting time for women’s sculling.”
Edinburgh University also impressed in this event, with both their A and B crews reaching the semifinals.
Photo London Rowing Club celebrate their win in the quad
London Rowing Club set their sights on sculling early in the season, fielding two club quads at the Fours Head of the River, and that paid off with a win in the Chairman’s Trophy for club quadruple sculls. They beat Marlow Rowing Club in the final by two lengths in 5:01, securing their third HWR win of the day – and denying Marlow their third.
London’s other victories came in the Copas Cup for club eights, an event in which they were the losing finalists in both 2024 and 2025, and the Haslam Trophy for championship lightweight double sculls.
Meanwhile Marlow’s impressive junior quad added the Bea Langridge Trophy for junior quadruple sculls to their trophy cabinet, which already includes titles at Schools Head and National Schools Regatta. They also set a course record of 4:50, lowering the previous marker by four seconds.
Marlow will surely be eyeing up an inaugural win in the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup at HRR, a result which would be particularly special for HRR Steward Matthew Pinsent whose daughter Eve strokes the crew. The club also claimed the Rayner Cup for junior double sculls.
Other notable results in a memorable three days of racing included Oxford Brookes University picking up their fifth consecutive Colgan Foundation Cup for academic eights. Since 2018, when Brookes won their first trophy in this event, they have lost just once, in 2021, when the University of London claimed the title.
Brookes coach Richard Follett said: “It adds a bit of pressure in training that there’s an expectation that we’re going to be competitive. It’s not something I think they think about too often, but the history adds a bit of confidence. They know the training is good and it prepares them well for the event.”
Enjoyment brings success for Delrays
The championship events saw what is almost certainly a HWR first – a married couple both winning, in different trophies. Oxford University’s Kyra Delray and her pairs partner, Spanish international Esther Briz, were the standout crew in the Redgrave Challenge Vase, cruising to victory in every round.
Delray was then able to cheer on her wife Saskia as she and her crewmates from Molesey BC and the University of London won a thrilling final race in the Ron Needs Challenge Cup for championship eights against Thames Rowing Club.
Kyra Delray said after the prize presentation: “Match racing is just its own little fun game and we had such a good time with it. I forget how loud it can be along the bank, and that’s so fun. It’s so similar to the Boat Race in that way.”
Photo Oxford University Boat Club’s Kyra Delray and her pairs partner, Spanish international Esther Briz, who were coached by Allan French, were the standout crew in the Redgrave Challenge Vase.
She added: “It’s going to be a happy household this evening. We’re both really enjoying domestic racing this year, it’s just a product of us having fun with it at our different universities. It’s been really great to support each other, keeping rowing and having fun doing it.”
Saskia said the composite, which also won the Ratzeburg International Regatta earlier in June but had not raced domestically, had not been sure how HWR would go.
“To set the marker today was something really special, and it makes us really excited for two weeks’ time,” she said. “And to watch Kyra win as well was super special, so good day out. Always love a women’s Henley, supporting women’s sport.”
Women’s sport in the spotlight
That theme was underlined by prizegiver Lauren Henry – appropriately enough, with the focus on quad sculling, Olympic champion in the women’s quadruple sculls – who said: “Women’s rowing continues to grow, becoming faster, stronger and more competitive, and more visible with every passing year. The athletes racing here today are part of that story.”
HWR 2026 was also a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Montréal 1976 Olympic Games, where women’s rowing made its debut. Four members of the British 1976 crew were treated to afternoon tea by HWR chairman Naomi Ashcroft and former chairman Miriam Luke – herself a pioneer in women’s rowing as one of Great Britain’s first Olympic rowing medallists – and reflected on the progress they had seen.
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Gill Webb, who raced in the women’s coxed four in Montréal and now coaches, said: “I’ve just seen women’s rowing grow and grow and grow, and the quality you see is out there because they’re getting coached, they’re getting coached better.
“We’ve just seen it develop from where we started off where it was a handful of clubs and not much press really and not much encouragement at times, but this is where we are now.”
The 2026 regatta was certainly a festival of women in rowing, proving HWR’s continued relevance as a target event in its own right as well as an increasingly important stepping stone for those crews aiming for success at HWR. With healthy entries across the board, and the racing to match, HWR this year was one to remember.
