For many, racing at the Qualifying event for Henley Royal Regatta is the pinnacle of their rowing career. The Draw for the Regatta takes place the following day (Saturday 28th June at midday) and many crews will need to navigate the perils of Friday’s timetrial on the Henley course to secure a berth in the Regatta proper. Here, we’re going to take a look at who we think will qualify in the student events.
The Temple Challenge Cup
Entries: 72 (To be reduced to 32 by Qualifying races)
Subject to withdrawals, the fastest 10 crews will qualify (20%)
With 72 entries, the The Temple Challenge Cup is second only to The Fawley Challenge Cup in terms of largest entries. The saving grace for this Trophy is that it has eight more spots in the draw than the junior quads. That being said, these qualifiers are brutal, and a gargantuan effort is required if athletes want to hear their crew’s name called out on Sunday. 22 crews have been given the nod and that includes all of the international crews except Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus ‘B’, Trinity College, Dublin, and the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration who will no doubt be looking to secure their usual last place at Qualifiers before debriefing late into the night about all the action.
Out of these crews, I think Nereus stand the best chance of qualifying. They’ve consistently been racing well in elite eights in Europe, placing third and fourth at Westelijke Regatta and Raceroei Regatta, respectively, clocking a 5:53 at the former.
Back in the UK, you have to take a bit of a scroll through the results from Marlow to find the dividing line that the Stewards have drawn as to who’s in and who goes to Qualifiers; however, it can be found between the D and E Finals. It emphasises the importance of time trials that Exeter, bottom of the D-final, are given the nod, but Imperial College London, who were nine seconds quicker in the E-final six minutes later, have to race on Friday. Harsh, but serves as a timely lesson to all crews about the importance of time trialling. Just behind Imperial were Durham University ‘B’ and both of those programmes will be able to go into Friday’s racing confident of progression. If you keep scrolling, then you reach the F-final and the likes of Birmingham, Sheffield, and Surrey, who, with a good row, should be looking forward to side-by-side racing next week.
Speaking of universities, Oxford Brookes should be expecting their ‘B’ and ‘C’ crews to qualify. Their ‘B’ crew were fifth in championship eights at the Metropolitan Regatta, won intermediate eights at BUCS Regatta, and earlier in the season were 12th at the Head of the River Race. The ‘C’ boat has a similar CV, placing seventh at the Metropolitan Regatta and fifth in the A-final of intermediate eights at BUCS. A mention must also go to Newcastle. While their top boat at the regatta is in The Prince Albert Challenge Cup, they should be reasonably confident of getting their second Temple Challenge Cup crew into the draw. Since their top boat is the four, The Temple Challenge Cup crews will be combinations of what we have seen earlier in the season. Their second eight were fourth in intermediate eights while their third eight were third in the C-final, less than a second back on Nottingham.
Finally, I suspect this will be a year that we see some schoolboys racing in The Temple Challenge Cup. I’m going to throw Hampton School into the mix because they were six seconds back on Durham ‘B’ in the E-final at Marlow Regatta. While St. Edwards won second eights at Marlow, Hampton went seven seconds quicker than them in the A-final at the National Schools’ Regatta. With Radley having a stab at The Prince Albert Challenge Cup and Shiplake not racing, Hampton are the best offering on the schoolboy side of things.
Here are the ten crews that I believe find themselves most likely to qualify in alphabetical order:
- Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus ‘B’, Netherlands
- Durham University ‘B’
- Hampton School ‘A’
- Imperial College London
- Newcastle University ‘B
- Oxford Brookes University ‘B’
- Oxford Brookes University ‘C’
- Sheffield University
- University of Birmingham ‘A’
- University of Surrey
The Island Challenge Cup
Entries: 44 (To be reduced to 24 by Qualifying races)
Subject to withdrawals, the fastest 10 crews will qualify (39.39%)
Fresh off an exciting Henley Women’s campaign, Newcastle University ‘B’ will be hoping to carry their momentum forward and exploit their experience on the Henley Royal Regatta race course to qualify for The Island Challenge Cup. After placing second in the time trial of the Colgan Foundation Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta, Newcastle’s second eight defeated the University of Bristol, ASR Nereus and Durham University to progress to the final round. A rematch between the clubs featured in the final of The Island Challenge Cup in 2024; the closely-fought race saw Oxford Brookes claim the title in the Aspirational Academic Eights by 1¼ lengths.
Despite some bumps in the road this season, Oxford Brookes University have managed to preserve their reputation for high performance. At BUCS Regatta, their second and third eights placed first and fourth in the intermediate eights, a demonstration of talent and depth throughout their squad. In 2023, Brookes became the first university to qualify three eights for The Island Challenge Cup. With the introduction of The Bridge Challenge Plate this year, which will feature two Oxford Brookes crews, the line-ups of their Island ‘B’ and ‘C’ boats remain uncertain. However, given Brookes’ consistent ability to produce speed, another 27 of their athletes in The Island Challenge Cup would be far from surprising.
The University of London has also proven to have one of the UK’s fastest second eights. After winning silver in the intermediate eights at BUCS Regatta, UL won the academic eights category on the Saturday of Metropolitan Regatta. Placing third in the time trial in the aspirational academic eights at Henley Women’s Regatta, this crew sailed through races against Cornell University and Newcastle’s third eight. UL have qualified two eights for The Island Challenge Cup three times before, and it appears they will do it again.
This season, Edinburgh University’s ‘B’ has won bronze medals at BUCS Head and Regatta, cementing themselves as one of the top crews participating in Friday’s racing. At Henley Women’s Regatta, eligibility rules meant that Edinburgh’s second eight had to enter the championship category, for which they found themselves three seconds shy of qualification, in a time that would have ranked them seventh in the Academic category. With Henley Royal Regatta showcasing a different field of entries, Edinburgh ‘B’ remains a top contender for qualification.
Last year marked the first time two eights from Durham University competed in The Island Challenge Cup. This season has been a mix of ups and downs for Durham ‘B’, after missing out on both a medal in the Intermediate Eights at BUCS Head and a space in the A-final at BUCS Regatta. Henley Women’s Regatta seemed to be a turning point for the crew, who reached the semifinal of the Colgan Foundation Cup after placing sixth in the time trial. On Friday, they will be looking to build on this success and accompany their first eight into the regatta.
2024 was a year of unprecedented success for the University of Bristol: securing their first qualification into The Island Challenge Cup and winning their first round. This year, Bristol claimed top spot in the intermediate eights at BUCS Head and, at BUCS Regatta, placed sixth in the A-final. A painstaking Henley Women’s Regatta saw Bristol place as the fastest non-qualifying crew for the Ron Needs Challenge Cup for championship women’s eights. However, this result meant that Bristol beat crews from Nottingham University, Oxford University and Edinburgh University– placing them in pole position to win a spot in next week’s racing.
2025 appears to be the first year a crew from Bath University will qualify for the Island Challenge Cup. Winning the C-final of the intermediate eights at BUCS Regatta, Bath built on this result and at Henley Women’s Regatta placed fourth in the time trial of the Colgan Foundation Cup—finishing ahead of Henley Royal Regatta regulars such as Durham University and ASR Nereus.
Edinburgh University dominated The Island Challenge Cup last year as the only club to enter three eights, two of which had to go through the Qualifying Races. Having just won their third consecutive title in the Frank V Harry Cup for development coxed fours at Henley Women’s Regatta last weekend, the Edinburgh athletes, who are likely to form their ‘C’ crew, will no doubt be spurred on by this success. Qualification of all their crews looks set to be on the cards for a second consecutive year.
Newcastle became the first university to ever qualify three eights into the Colgan Foundation Cup for aspirational academic eights last weekend, and there is no doubt they will be hoping to dominate The Island Challenge Cup too. Newcastle’s ‘C’ eight placed seventh in the time trial at Henley Women’s Regatta, defeating many other crews hoping to qualify. If Newcastle are going to qualify three eights for The Island Challenge Cup, 2025 appears to be the year for it.
The University of Exeter have been working towards Henley Royal Regatta qualification for a number of years. At Henley Women’s Regatta, they placed eighth in the time trial of the Colgan Foundation Cup, making them one of eight seeded crews for the side-by-side racing. This led to a comfortable victory against Liverpool University before they drew the eventual winners, Oxford Brookes University. This solid performance, ranking them above many of their opposition this Friday, puts them in great stead to make history for their university.
It is always difficult to predict how an international crew’s speed and results will translate, and in 2025, several crews from the USA will be required to compete in Qualifying Races to earn their place in the competition.
Among them are the women from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), hoping to debut in The Island Challenge Cup. Their season highlights include a fourth-place finish in the club eight at the Head of the Charles Regatta and a silver medal in the Varsity Eight at the Patriot League Championship.
Purdue University will also be making their maiden voyage to Henley Royal Regatta. They placed first in the Petite Final at the ACRA National Championship in May and sixth in the Varsity Eights at the SIRA Regatta. These results appear solid in an American field; however, Purdue enters Qualifiers as a relative unknown on British waters.
Meanwhile, Tufts University offer a strong track record of success. They claimed victory in the Varsity Eights at the NIRC/NESCAC Championships, and last year won both the Varsity Eights and the team trophy at the NCAA Division III Championships. However, like their fellow American competitors, Henley can be a different ball game, and puts even the most successful crews to the test.
Here are the 13 crews that I believe find themselves most likely to qualify in alphabetical order:
- Bath University
- Durham University ‘B’
- Edinburgh University ‘B’
- Edinburgh University ‘C’
- Imperial College London
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A.
- Newcastle University ‘B’
- Newcastle University ‘C’
- Oxford Brookes University ‘B’
- Purdue University, U.S.A.
- Tufts University, U.S.A
- University of Bristol ‘A’
- University of London ‘B’
The Prince Albert Challenge Cup
Entries: 43 (To be reduced to 16 by Qualifying races)
Subject to withdrawals, the fastest 8 crews will qualify (22.86%)
Of the international crews who have entered, Holy Cross, Lyon, MIT, Riverfront Recapture, Tilburgse, Temple, Michigan, and Virginia will all have to face Qualifiers on Friday. It’s reflective that most of these crews are not filled with the best athletes from these institutions. There are exceptions to that statement. One of which is Riverfront Recapture, comprised of four members of Trinity College, the DIII programme that went undefeated this season and were crowned national champions on Cooper River. They placed eighth at Marlow Regatta and will have no trouble navigating Friday’s Qualifiers and getting into the round of 16.
The rest of the bunch is trickier to pick from, but there should be no challenges for Lyon. The quartet are highly experienced at junior level, racing at either the Coupe de la Jeunesse, the U19 European Rowing Championships, or the U23 World Rowing Championships. I’d also expect Tilburgse and Temple to progress. The Temple Owls were 16th in the second Varsity Eights at the IRA National Championship, while the Dutch have been performing well domestically across Europe.
And that leaves five spots…
We’ve already mentioned Riverfront’s strong performance and they were just three seconds back on Bristol on the A-final. Cast your eyes into B-final and you’ll find Imperial College London’s top boat at the regatta, half of Radley College’s second eight that won gold at National Schools’ Regatta, and Warwick University. At the top of the C-final was Oxford University, half of their lightweight eight from this year’s Boat Race and the ‘B’ crew from the University of London, with Durham and Bristol ‘B’ a little further back.
Here are the eight crews that I believe find themselves most likely to qualify in alphabetical order:
1 College of the Holy Cross, USA
2 Imperial College London ‘A’
3 Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, France
4 Radley College
5 Riverfront Recapture, USA
6 Temple University, USA
7 Tilburgse Studenten Roeivereniging Vidar, Netherlands
8 University of Warwick
