Holders: Rowing Canada ‘A’ Canada
Entries: 13 (To be reduced to 8 by Qualifying races)
This looks to be an epic smackdown between the national squad boats from Great Britain, Australia and two from the Netherlands.
The leading the charge for the home crowd are the GB women’s four racing as Leander Club and Reading University. The crew includes three of the Olympic bronze medal women’s eight, Lauren Irwin, Heidi Long and Eve Stewart. This trio were also in the eight that won silver at the European Rowing Championships last season. Long is no stranger to the coxless four, winning World Rowing Championship gold in 2022 and bronze in 2023. The fourth member of the crew is Daisy Bellamy. She made her senior debut at the European Rowing Championships in Plovdiv after racing on the GB U23 team in 2021 and 2022, winning gold in 2021 and silver in 2022. All except Stewart (who was injured) raced at the European Rowing Championships, winning gold in the eight and bronze in the four. This crew are also doubling up in The Remenham Challenge Cup.
Rowing Australia are represented by Eleanor Price, Taylor Caudle, Emily Sheppard and Katherine Easton. Sheppard and Easton were in the gold medal-winning coxed four at the 2023 U23 World Rowing Championships. This season, the quartet has been racing in a variety of boats. Sheppard and Price were tenth in the four in Varese, with Caudle and Easton also finishing tenth in Varese in the pair.
Like the British, the Netherlands are also doubling-up in the Remenham and they have all eight of those rowers racing in the fours. Racing as Hollandia Roeiclub ‘A’ is Nika Vos, Hermijntje Drenth, Ymkje Clevering and Tinka Offereins. Clevering and Offereins were in the NED1 boat that won the European Rowing Championships. Clevering is the reigning World and Olympic champion in the pair, and Drenth and Offereins are also reigning world and Olympic champions from the coxless four. Vos had a very busy European Rowing Championships, winning silver in the pair, gold in the coxless four and silver in the eight.
Hollandia Roeiclub ‘B’ is Ilse Kolkman, Lisanne Van der Lelij, Vera Sneijders and Linn Van Aanholt. Kolkman Sneijders and Aanholt raced in the eight that won silver at the European Rowing Championships, with Van Der Lelij winning bronze in the quad. All four raced in Varese with Sneijders and Van Der Lelij taking bronze in the four, Aanholt silver in the pair and Kolkman ninth in a second women’s pair.
Three domestic crews have been given direct qualification for the main draw. Leander Club and Molesey is the provisional GB U23 crew with Ailish Harkin, Abigail Dawson, Madeleine Greenstock and Imogen Cabot. All four study in the USA: Cabot and Harkin at Yale, Dawson at Texas and Greenstock at Stanford. Dawson was a member of the eight that won the U23 World Rowing Championships in 2024 and Cabot was in the U23 eight that finished fourth the year before. Harkin and Greenstock raced for the GB U19 team in 2023, winning gold in the eight and Greenstock silver in the four.
Thames Rowing Club ‘A’ have been granted a place in the draw with their line-up of Clara O’Doherty, Selena Jones, Francesca Lidlow and Isabel Lack. This quartet finished third on the Sunday at the Metropolitan Regatta and last weekend were losing finalists at Henley Women’s Regatta.
The final pre-qualified crew are the University of London, comprising Aoife Casey, Jessica Martin, Saskia Delray and Emily Hegarty. This crew won in Ghent and were runners-up at BUCS. Casey and Martin raced in the pair at Henley Women’s Regatta, winning the Redgrave Challenge Vase. Casey and Hegarty are senior Irish internationals. Casey finished fifth in the lightweight women’s double at the Paris Olympic Games, and Hegarty was seventh in the four in Paris. Martin rowed for GB at the U23 World Rowing Championships in 2024, winning gold in the coxless four and Delray (nee Budgett) finished 13th in the double at the 2023 World Rowing Championships.
The Stewards have asked the remaining six crews to race for the final spot in the draw. Leander ‘A’ may feel slightly aggrieved at having to qualify, given that they beat the pre-qualified crew from Thames in the semifinal at Henley Women’s Regatta last weekend. Leander’s line-up is Sophie Chumas, Emma Sherwood, Muryn Greene and Jemima Furness.
Molesey probably has even more reason to feel a bit frustrated at having to qualify as their line-up of Lily Pember, Eva Hoffmans, Shannon Kearney and Alex Watson won at Henley Women’s Regatta, defeating Leander in the final.
Two overseas clubs are being asked to qualify, both from the USA. Cornell University have half of their Varsity crew who entered the Ron Needs Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta but missed out on qualification in the time trial. Their line-up in the four is Emma Leary, Ellie Van Houten, Elise Rueppel and Ellie Bijeau.
The second US crew required to qualify are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They are all members of MIT’s Knecht Cup-winning 2V: Lucy Greenup, Sofia Chastain, Emma Cox and Sophie Latz. My money will be on Molesey to take the one qualifying place.
Prediction
I would imagine the Stewards will put the GB and #1 Dutch boat on opposite sides of the draw, and I think they will meet in the final. The Dutch and British have been very close in the women’s coxless four for the last couple of seasons, and I think this could go either way. The Stewards’ roar may just help the Bris take it ahead of the Dutch. Leander Club and Reading University for the win.
