Thirty trophies, great weather, the noisiest clapping out and back parties in the boat tents all week: Henley Royal Regatta edition 186 drew to a close yesterday with rowers of all ages and stages in heaven at winning the elusive red medal boxes.
Finals day was not marked by much in the way of close racing, but it delivered a clutch of fine performances by top internationals, and only the eleventh trophy-deciding disqualification in the history of the regatta. The very slow stream, due to many dry summer weeks, contributed to several crews matching or breaking records even on a day when a gusting breeze frequently turned headwind and created plenty of bumpy water to knock crews off balance. Spectators surely set records of their own: a crowded bank the whole way up the course paid testament to the draw which finals day now has, at the biggest regatta ever seen.
We’ll get to the world and Olympic medallists later but first, the shock of the morning. In the absence of any top international fours the Town Challenge Cup was up for grabs by aspirational crews from clubs, development squads and top universities. The two who made it to the final, Nautilus’ GB under-23 hopefuls returned from US universities and their Dutch peers Hollandia, had been expected to make a great race of it. But 12 strokes into an otherwise clean start Nautilus, leading narrowly, veered sharply into the centre from the Bucks bank.
Before the end of the island they had tweaked the Hollandia bowside blades, the resulting semi-shipwreck pulling the Dutch onto the buoys which mark the course before the booms begin, and briefly stopping them. They recovered and picked up, while Nautilus had moved well clear, and after an otherwise uneventful race crossed the line four lengths up. No celebration, they waited quietly for Hollandia to finish, and were clearly unsurprised when the umpire showed a red flag and the Dutch immediately appealed. The discussion was taken onto land in the Chairman’s office and after a substantial delay it was announced that Nautilus had been disqualified, the first final decided this way for steering issues since 2014.
There’s no sense that it was in any way deliberate — Nautilus had set off very close to the island and it was just a disastrous overcorrection. But without an on the spot restart, which would have been just about possible so early in the race, disqualification was likely to be the only other feasible option given that Hollandia were well inside their own water when the foul occurred. A fair outcome for the Dutch development four, but a sad way to end a Henley campaign.
Things went much more smoothly for the many senior internationals who carried away trophies, many of whom were Paris Olympic or 2025 Shanghai worlds medallists. The British team had sent six of their top crews, winning five trophies, and four more of the big events went to overseas stars. Of these, two were Team Italia’s excellent Hambleden women’s pair of Alice Codato and Laura Meriano, fourth at last year’s worlds, and the superlative Italian men’s quad who are reigning world champions and won silver at the Paris Olympics. The Italians sent those two alongside their eights for race practice after an uncompetitive world cup II. They got it, the eights losing tough contests against the British and the pair and quad clinching the first trophies ever won by the Italian team at Henley.
The Grand and Remenham British eights, fresh from silver and gold medals respectively in Lucerne, weathered the fusillade of rapid strokes typifying both Italian starts, and pushed through into confident leads for untroubled wins. The women were fractionally more dominant, but the GB men had a very good row in the pre-lunch crosswind, knocking in times only just outside the record for the Barrier and finish, and taking a second off Romania’s 2018 Fawley record. This was with Matt Aldridge back in the boat, after being moved into an unsuccessful pair for Lucerne.
The Queen Mother M4x was a tighter affair, the British men’s quad recovering from losing narrowly to Germany in Lucerne and a challenging HRR semi-final against the thrown-together Irish/Portuguese quartet to mount a spirited defence of the 2025 win. It was a daunting task: the men’s quad is Italy’s flagship boat and the two hadn’t met since the they beat the British by two seconds at last year’s worlds. Now Toby Schröder has replaced Matt Haywood in the crew and they are hunting revenge. The first half was one up to Team Italia, but in the second half some determined British attacks kept the Italians on their toes and managed to close the margin down to half a length at the finish line.
Several other international races were easier on the victors, uber-champion Olli Zeidler (GER) capturing his fifth Diamonds M1x pineapple cup with a rapid rate-56 start followed by a dignified procession ahead of Diogo Gonçalves (POR). It appeared that Zeidler was practising his 2km strategy, knocking it down to rate 32 in the last hundred metres, which also stopped it being an ‘easily’ win over Gonçalves. The German doesn’t have any records in the Diamonds yet, but got within two seconds at the Barrier and four at Fawley in an authoritative display.
The Princess Royal women’s singles was difficult for Magdalena Lobnig, the Austrian former international who is not in the same shape as world-commanding Briton and Leicester Rowing Club member Lauren Henry. There was a foot in it at the Barrier after which it went all Henry’s way for her second consecutive win in the event, just short of a easily verdict. Her team-mates in the British women’s quad, now stroked by Paris LW2x champion Imogen Grant, carried off the Princess Grace trophy in a superb demonstration of skill and international grace. Their opposition, Hollandia’s development quad, gave the start a good shot but subsided with relief to rate 31 in mid-race at which point they were recorded as being 7.5 lengths behind.
The undefeated British men’s four carried off the Stewards’ Challenge Cup with more ease than the record books will show, after they kept the lid on the race in what appears to have been an act of generosity to youngsters Nautilus. Given the British senior crew’s quality and CV it can only have been a deliberate decision not to worry when Nautilus belted it to the first two markers, and the older quartet then gently put their foot down, reclaimed the lead and moved smoothly away. Not that Nautilus were slow: their Fawley and Barrier times were one and two seconds outside the record, and the British senior four’s finish time only three outside the mark set in 2011. Whilst only one of the losing crew is still able to row under-23, they are all promising talents for the future.
One of their former team-mates, Jake Wincomb, won the Silver Goblets pairs with Olympic champion Tom Digby, their life getting simpler after the Irish national pair withdrew due to injury before the semi-finals. That completes a full set of open men’s sweep events for Wincomb, who has won the Stewards’ and Grand in the past, and is another reminder of Digby’s form for the GBR selectors as he tries to return to the team after hip surgery.
Another pair of returners, Paris W2x champions Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors (NZL), claimed the Stonor women’s doubles here against an up and coming St Andrew’s University duo, a successful stage on the Kiwis’ journey to re-enter the New Zealand team in 2027. The men’s doubles went to two very happy Serbians, Nikolaj Pimenov and Martin Mackovic, who posted quick times to the first two markers but in the end managed to dispose of new GBR M2x Matt Haywood and Josh Knight fairly comfortably. Nikolaj’s father, himself a famous rower, never competed at Henley and this was the first ever Serbian win at the regatta.
2026 marks the first time since 2015 that Oxford Brookes University had no club crews racing on finals day, and several big UK clubs made hay with the opportunity. Leander had six non-international crews getting their blades wet, and won three trophies: the Fawley and Ladies’ Plate in addition to the Goblets pair courtesy of Tom Digby. Thames also captured three club events, Reading University claimed two excellent quads wins in the new events, and Nautilus collected two of their own in their first appearance as a club name since 2016. Molesey and UL combined together to take the second ever edition of the Bridge intermediate eights away from title-holders Thames, a hard tussle in which Thames attacked several times in the Stewards’ Enclosure to reduce the lead by several seats, but could not get the better of the canny composite crew.
The Ladies’ Plate was extremely close the whole way, Leander holding the upper hand but Cambridge’s “past and future” crew making it as difficult as possible for them, pushing hard at Remenham and closing it from three-quarters of a length to a third of a length in the second half. This was Paralympic champion cox Erin Kennedy’s final race as a cox after she announced her imminent retirement a few weeks ago, and she pronounced it one of her favourites.
The Pink Palace Fawley crew was the first to deny Tideway Scullers’ attempt to win two junior quads trophies, a more powerful outfit than the Londoners and continuing the tradition that Leander will win the Fawley if it can reach the final. The Scullers’ junior women’s quad stuck like burrs to Marlow in the Diamond Jubilee final, and weren’t to be shaken off, but could do no more than hold Marlow to a length verdict at the line, the local club’s first ever win in this category.
For Reading University celebrations came late in the day, starting with Fionnola Stratton’s success in the Princess Grace. Shortly after that they bagged the inaugural Queen Victoria student and Princess of Wales intermediate women’s quads, making a significant statement about their status as one of the UK’s most successful student sculling squads. The Queen Victoria crew had its foot to the floor from the off and never gave Skøll a chance, though the Reading steering was wayward. The Dutchwomen protested at the end but the umpire pointed out that they had also moved into the course midwater so it had not affected the outcome of the race.
Eights fever was running high on finals day, and delivered emotion and excitement in all four of the student and junior eights. Headington School were the headliners, winning the Prince Philip JW8+ for the third time running, an incredible feat which shores up their reputation as one of the very best eights programmes for schoolgirls. Chief coach Ryan Demaine has the knack of making the run to Henley Royal feel straightforward for his crews, and the eight demolished Shiplake despite the latter continuing to attack repeatedly and slightly reducing the verdict to below three lengths at the finish. Headington equalled the Barrier and Fawley records they had set earlier in the week and ripped four seconds off the course record they took over last year.
After Saturday’s combative paso doble between St Paul’s and Radley to determine who would fight the finals battle in the Princess Elizabeth JM8+, it had looked as if the final would be less exciting, despite St Edward’s School’s impressive recent results and confidence. But the Oxonians made it a much better race than it might have been, as they harried early leaders St Paul’s the entire way up the 2112-metre course. St Paul’s had to work like stink for their fifth victory in eight finals over the last 12 years.
A similar race went the way of Cambridge in the Temple Cup, up against the University of Washington. The recent easing of the rules to allow Blues and senior varsity rowers into the Temple provided they haven’t won under-23 medals or represented their country at senior major championships has made this a more interesting contest. Cambridge came to it having defeated plenty of local opposition, including Oxford Brookes’ best hope for a 2026 win, whilst UW had seen off three slower overseas entries on their way to Sunday. For most of the race however Washington were narrowly outclassed by the Light Blues, and despite a massive surge in the Enclosures the Americans couldn’t quite get themselves back into contention before they ran out of river and Cambridge took a two-thirds length victory.
But the best eights race of the entire day came courtesy of two American crews in the Island Challenge Cup for student W8+. Slightly stronger on paper, the University of Washington took a small lead off the start and then began to extend it agonisingly slowly, until they reached three-quarters of a length. There they stuck, and Brown reeled them in a few feet with a well-timed half-mile push, but were unable to take more. Just as it was starting to seem as if Washington could start to feel more secure, Brown came stampeding through with a mega-push at the Mile which put them ahead by a canvas coming into the competitors grandstand and walking away to reclaim the trophy they first won in 2022.
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Drag
Thames were always going to be celebrating with their A and B crews pitted against one another in the Wargrave Cup, but it was a fast and furious race marred only by some invading ducks on the course before the start, which umpire Greg Searle got his start colleagues to move by chucking bread. After that the A crew’s win was rather a foregone conclusion, though their clubmates put up a solid fight.
Thames A beat Sydney A to the Wyfold Challenge Cup, summoning a last sprint when Sydney attacked ferociously in the Enclosures, and the club men’s eight took away their third win in four years in the Thames Cup, after holding London at bay in a very quick and close race, the whole way up the course. London’s cox appealed at the end for being washed down but the umpire denied it and gave Thames the white flag.
There is some sadness, since the move to 30 events has stretched the Royal Regatta to its limits and now the Stewards are seriously thinking of experimenting with the categories by suspending the Visitors’ M4- and Britannia club M4+ events for at least a year. What may be the last Visitor’s trophy went to Nautilus alongside the Prince of Wales quads, whilst Dutch club De Hoop finally claimed its first HRR trophy in the shape of the Britannnia Challenge Cup, which might make them the last crew ever to have their names engraved on it. At least De Hoop have also set records to every marker this year. Meanwhile the Prince Albert student M4+, which is not under threat, and the new Danesfield club W4x, were taken by Imperial College and Molesey.
