Holders: Thames Rowing Club
Entries: 18 (to be reduced to 16 by Qualifying races)
Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s time. The eyes of the rowing world descend once again upon a small town in Oxfordshire for seven days of pure, unbridled rowing. Not many sporting events see amateur athletes competing alongside and sometimes against Olympians, but Henley Royal Regatta does just that. Superlatives and hyperbole aside, this Regatta is somewhat unique in its unpredictability, where a mistake or single air stroke in the enclosures can cost a crew dear. The Britannia Challenge Cup is perhaps the most interesting club-level event in this year’s competition by virtue of its relative unpredictability (11 different winners in the last 15 years) and the fact that we only have 18 entries in 2025 compared with 29 last year. With the advent of the Irish might of Commercial, the Australian skill of Sydney Rowing Club, and the technically superb Crefeld Ruder-Club 1833 from Germany, this is truly an international event. Let the games begin.
Thames Rowing Club A
You can’t say much about Thames RC that hasn’t already been said repeatedly. What the club has achieved over the past decade in this event alone is astounding. No crew in the event’s 55-year history had won a double since the Tideway Scullers Crew of 1976 and 1977. Thames went one better; they won three on the bounce.
The reemergence of London as a force to be reckoned with in club rowing has threatened to topple Thames for the past couple of years, and this season has been no exception. A second-place finish in challenge coxed fours at Wallingford Regatta, behind only Oxford Brookes, was followed by a fourth place at the Metropolitan Regatta, behind Thames B, Edinburgh and Durham. The line-up was rejigged between the Metropolitan and Marlow Regattas, with James Woodford and Richard Hume in as the middle pair to join Luke Putter at stroke and Callum Young at bow. Hume, in particular, brings experience to the boat, having made two Henley Royal Regatta semifinals and achieving second place at the Scullers Head of the River. This all came together nicely last weekend, where the crew were the fastest coxed club four, with a handy 3.5-second advantage over Marlow, who beat out Molesey and London.
Thames has consistently been the fastest club coxed four in the UK all year, and they appear to have enough firepower to repel domestic competition. They’ll be desperate to make it four-in-a-row.
Molesey Boat Club
If Thames is the perennial winner of this event, then one must surely place Molesey as chief challenger. Having been on the losing side of two of the three finals they have made in this event over the past six years, one suspects that Molesey will chuck a lot more than the kitchen sink at their competition to win the event this year.
Former Windsor Boys athlete and Fawley Challenge Cup winner, Sam Bodkin, provides a steadying presence in the same bow position he occupied in last year’s Wyfold entry, with ex California Berkley rower Adam Stephenson making up the bow pair. Henry Jones and former University of York captain Alex Coates comprise the stroke pair.
Having won club coxed fours at Wallingford Regatta, albeit against slightly weaker competition with the absence of Thames, a disappointing B-final was the outcome of their efforts at the Metropolitan Regatta, falling short of the A-final and causing 3/4 of the crew to be moved in favour of newer blood. This seemed to do the trick, as the crew made the A-final at Marlow Regatta, finishing behind Marlow and Thames of the club-eligible folk. Molesey do not have a mountain to climb to make the weekend, provided the draw swings in their favour. They appear, however, to be consistently on the wrong side of tight margins, so they will need to dig deeper to overcome the ranked masses.
Marlow Rowing Club
The past couple of years have been a success for Marlow at all club levels. Last year’s Henley Royal Regatta saw the club make finals in both junior quad events (The Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup and The Fawley Challenge Cup) to go alongside a stunning victory in The Wyfold Challenge Cup. That win was the first for an all-Marlow crew for 11 years at the Regatta, and they will be focused on making it two in a row in 2025. This year has seen this boat go from strength to strength, with a win in the tier 2 coxed four event at Marlow Regatta, where they finished just shy of Thames as the only non-championship crew to make the final.
Last year’s Fawley Challenge Cup finalist and GB U19 World Rowing Championships representative Jerry Anderson swaps two blades for one at bow, with club veteran Joel Evans at two, and Jonathan Vibhishanan and Kyle Brown completing the line-up. Like Thames and Molesey, this outfit has gone through several reincarnations before reaching this stage, and the post-Metropolitan Regatta makeover (Marlow finished as the sixth and fifth-fastest Britannia Challenge Cup crew on the Saturday and Sunday, respectively) seems to have done the trick. Like Molesey, Marlow have been on the wrong side of the line several times this season already, but given their relatively late entry to the party, one suspects they may have hidden speed to find.
London Rowing Club
London has roared again with great gusto this season. One of only three boat clubs to have multiple eights in the top ten at the Head of the River Race 2025, the Putney-based institution will be eyeing Thames-level dominance in the club men’s events.
A second-place finish at the increasingly popular Poplar Regatta was followed by a sixth at the Metropolitan Regatta and seventh at Marlow Regatta, within the A-final and within striking distance of Marlow, Thames and Molesey.
Club veteran and former Southampton University Boat Club rower Ed Thomas is at bow, with Ben Sthamer for company in the two-seat. Stern pair features two established university rowers from high-performance programmes, with Edinburgh University Boat Clubs’ Laurence Ellis at three and Reading’s own Joshua Lyon at stroke. I would expect this crew to make the weekend, draw withstanding, but they will have to dig deep to overcome the likes of Thames.
Royal Chester Rowing Club
Royal Chester return the exact same crew that reached the final of this event in 2024. Sarah Armstrong leads from the coxing seat as the first woman from the club to reach a Henley Royal Regatta final. The club won the Jackson Trophy at the Head of the River Race in 2023 and 2024, but this season has been leaner. They were 33rd overall back in March, five seconds back on the title, and the summer has not had the same explosiveness it had in 2024. They won the B-finals at the Metropolitan and Marlow Regattas, which is typically not enough to earn yourself a red box. Stranger things have happened, though, and there would be a certain romance to Royal Chester securing the title that eluded them so agonisingly last summer.
Nottingham Rowing Club
Nottingham last won a club event at Henley Royal Regatta back in 2012 and this year’s Britannia Challenge Cup (coached by Dez Atkins) are tilting for the win. They won the club coxed four at the Metropolitan Regatta on both days – finishing in the B-final both times – so have a little way to go. They also placed fifth in the B-final at Marlow Regatta, behind crews including Thames, Royal Chester, Marlow and London.
Sydney Rowing Club, Australia
The standout international entry, Sydney’s entry in The Britannia Challenge Cup, ten years after winning last, comprises half of the unbeaten U21 eight from the domestic Australian season. Three-seat Pasha Bevan also won silver in the NSW King’s Cup crew this year. They are coxed by Hannah Cowap, who brings enough experience at the international level for several coxes, having coxed at U23 national, international and senior level at the last Paralympic Games with the Australian coxed four. As an international crew, it’s always hard to tell exactly how good or fast Sydney are, but given the crew-average 2k clocks in at 6:08, I suspect watts should not be a problem. We will have to wait and see, but if this crew’s quality is to be believed, 2025 could be their year.
Commercial Rowing Club, Ireland
Despite Sydney grabbing the international headlines, don’t turn your noses up at the Irish. They’ve already travelled across from the Emerald Isle on several occasions this season, finishing 15th at the Head of the River Race. This crew has two from that boat that placed 15th on the Tideway, with the other two seat-racing their way in the combination. At the Metropolitan Regatta, the result that’s worth zooming in on is their Sunday performance, where they placed 12th overall in a very tight bunch finish. Commercial were just over a second back on Molesey and Marlow but snuck their bows in front of Nottingham as they came up to the finish line. With the compact field, we could see the Irish put a decent run together through the regatta.
Crefelder Ruder-Club 1883 e.V., Germany
Crefelder have begun to build up a head of steam in coming to Henley Royal Regatta. They have been present at many of the last decade’s Regattas in some form or another and this year’s club entry comes in The Britannia Challenge Cup. This crew were fifth at the Ghent International Regatta in May, losing out to Nottingham. Bowman Nils Busch also placed second at the German U19 championships last year in the eight whilst stroke Justus De Gruyter was fourth in the quad. I’m not sure this boat will have the speed to win the event, but may get through a round or two.
Prediction
In my eyes, it all falls to the London crews, particularly Thames. Fine margins aside, time and again they prove themselves to be the best in club coxless fours, and barring a slip-up, I expect them to retain their title or at least make Sunday. Molesey, Marlow, Sydney and London are the most likely challengers, with Marlow and Molesey looking the most likely to dethrone Thames or make the weekend at the very least. Que sera sera
