Holders: Thames Rowing Club
Entries: 42 (to be reduced to 24 by Qualifying races)
The Wargrave Challenge Cup returns to Henley Royal Regatta for its fifth edition with a record-breaking 42 entries, up from 37 in 2024, cementing its status as the ultimate fixture in the women’s club rowing calendar. As the premier event for female club eights, this Trophy is attracting the top domestic competition alongside the international representation from Canada, Australia, and Germany, raising the bar for women’s sweep rowing across the board. With 24 qualifying places available, the path to finals is more challenging than ever, and each crew will be looking to bring serious pedigree to the ever-exciting Henley stretch.
Thames Rowing Club
Thames Rowing Club are, without question, the titans of The Wargrave Challenge Cup. As a club, they are approaching the Henley stretch this year with 16 Henley Royal Regatta and eight Henley Women’s Regatta wins under their belt across the last nine years. Specifically, balancing extreme success in eights with the pressure to maintain that comes with it, Thames women are chasing their fourth Wargrave title in five years.
Their 2025 entry, as always, looks to contain a solid spine of athletes to approach this task, who each bring varied experience to the crew. Anna Smart has raced at Henley Royal Regatta three times before, twice in The Princess Grace Challenge Cup and once in The Wargrave Challenge Cup, so will not be expecting anything other than silverware this year. Rachel Heap brings experience from the Junior and U23 GB team, whilst Rosa Millard brings expertise from a 2023 open-weight Boat Race win. What this ‘A’ crew in particular also brings, regardless of varying backgrounds, is cohesion. This is said to be formulated mainly by coach Eliza Daniels, who has been described as having been an integral part of this crew’s journey this year.
Looking at the bigger picture, Thames’ depth is equally formidable. They have an impressive fleet of four entering The Wargrave Challenge Cup this year, forming part of the 45 women racing for the club at Henley Royal Regatta overall. If that doesn’t speak of the strength of their women’s programme, I don’t know what does. This also means that the ‘B’ crew are highly likely to be still racing towards the latter end of the week, as they were in the Thames ‘A’ versus Thames ‘B’ semifinal of this event in 2023, and don’t be surprised if their reach extends even deeper into the regatta this year. Their win in the Copas Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta, mirroring last year’s pathway to Wargrave success, signals they are exactly where they want to be.
Leander Club
Thames’ perennial rivals, Leander Club, return to home waters in the hopes of regaining their previously comfortably held place in the finals. Until last year, Leander had met Thames in every final since the cup’s inception in 2021. Whilst Leander were up against Thames on the Saturday last year, they lost by one and a third length. Nonetheless, there is no reason why 2025 cannot mark this crew’s resurgence. Coming off the back of winning Henley Women’s Regatta in the championship women’s eight event (albeit in a composite and not featuring this crew), this could be the year they knock Thames off their high horse, although they still had to face Thames in the final of this and only beat them by one third of a length.
Looking back at this year, they have a solid foundation, meaning their peak could be high. Most of this crew finished eighth at the Women’s Head of the River Race, third at Wallingford Regatta, and sixth in the championship eight at the Metropolitan Regatta. Further, many of these women have racing experience on the Henley stretch besides their regular training. Charlotte Fennell, positioned to row at bow in this crew, was a Henley Royal Regatta finalist in The Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup as a junior. After graduating from Yale, she has now returned to Leander after previously spending her gap year there and will now want to make an even stronger name for herself at Henley Royal as a senior. Similarly, Isobel Sellers, a recent Durham University graduate, brings experience from making the Saturday of The Island Challenge Cup in 2023. Interestingly, she spent 2023 in a lightweight double at the U23 World Rowing Championships and won the Haslam Trophy at Henley Women’s Regatta that same year; it will be interesting to see how well she translates her speed into the eight.
Molesey Boat Club
Molesey usually come into this event as more of an outsider, but this year, are undoubtedly one of the top club crews in the country. Crew members look to be Liv Cheesmur, Katherine Lush, Lauren Auchterlonie, Angaharad Broughton, Heloise Wormleighton, Florence Donald, Georgina Thorp, Isabella Cassidy and Omar Al-Miqdadi (cox).
Various combinations of these women have competed at many events this season and have achieved eye-catching success. Looking back at the head races, Molesey placed fourth and tenth overall at the Women’s Head of the River Race, making them winners of the club pennant, much to the surprise of usual contenders such as Thames. This came shortly after winning the championship eight category at Hammersmith Head. This strength has not yet wavered in the last few months. Wallingford saw many of these athletes compete in the championship eight, which they won overall, and the Metropolitan Regatta saw a third overall placing on the Saturday.
One of the key things which stands out from this crew is the versatility these women seem to have between sweep and sculling, not faltering at either. Olivia Cheesmur at bow is a recent U19 silver medallist but was also the fastest U23 at February trials this year, a hugely impressive feat and a ranking not gone unnoticed. Further, Katie and Heloise also seemed to have shifted their focus to the eight for Henley Royal Regatta this year, after committing to a project in a quad together last year. With both Molesey ‘A’ and ‘B’ prequalifying, coupled with the fact that Molesey ‘B’ made the semifinal in the Ron Needs Challenge Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta last week, the club looks to have that competition internally, which will spur them even further up the external ranks.
London Rowing Club
London are perhaps less of a mainstream threat, but more likely to be biting at the ankles, with both depth and star power. The women’s programme is another impressive one, demonstrated by the fact that they have entered this event every year since its inception. Notably, London made the final last year, so 2025 may be their golden opportunity. However, it cannot be ignored that Thames still took last year’s cup by a hefty four and a half lengths, whilst London had to also beat Thames ‘B’ to make it to the gates of Thames ‘A’.
Nonetheless, the women in this boat appear to have a high level of experience between Henley Women’s and Henley Royal Regatta in comparison to the other crews in this event. Georgia Hellard Timm won the coxless four event at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2021, before making The Island Challenge Cup final a few weeks later. More recently, Gabriella Morton and Amelia Perrin won the Lester Trophy at Henley Women’s Regatta 2024. Importantly, six of this year’s crew were Wargrave Challenge Cup finalists last year and will not want to walk away empty-handed again. Even cox Cameron Moffatt is not used to coming off the Henley Royal Regatta waters without a medal being placed around his neck; having previously coxed Brookes ‘A’, Cameron seems to have won both the Ron Needs Challenge Cup and The Island Challenge Cup just a few weeks apart in 2023 and will be looking to bring this same expertise to London.
As a crew, however, their results this year do not give a crystal clear projection of where they will stand in The Wargrave Challenge Cup. At Quintin Head, London placed second in the women’s championship eights and 13th overall at the Women’s Head of the River Race, making them winners of the senior pennant. Throughout this summer, however, their results seem consistent but perhaps not podium worthy. At Wallingford Regatta, they placed sixth in the women’s challenge eights. At Poplar Regatta, they were fourth in women’s gold eights. Finally, more recently at the Metropolitan Regatta, they placed third in the B-final on the Saturday, making them the fifth club, and seventh in the championship eights A-final on the Sunday, making them the fourth club. However, at Henley Women’s Regatta only last week, London indeed appears to be up there, making the final of the Copas Cup for aspirational club eights, with Thames only taking the win over a quarter of a length.
Mercantile Rowing Club, Australia
Although we perhaps do not know as much about this eight as we do about our domestic crews, if the 2025 Australian Championship Results are anything to go off, our usual rankings could be in trouble because of Mercantile Rowing Club.
The members of this eight seem to have collected a bundle of silver medals between them. Freya Axten, Louisa Stocks, and Grace Ivers placed second in the club women’s eight, Jess Hawker and Imogen Nation placed second in the U23 women’s eight, and Sophie Reinehr placed second in the interstate women’s eight. Olivia Nairn, although on the other side of the world, actually competed at Henley Royal Regatta in 2022 in The Prince Philip Challenge Trophy for Melbourne Girls Grammar, so is no stranger to what is to come. Although Olivia obtained a full student-athlete scholarship to the University of California, she is now approaching this event after returning from an injury, so we are excited to see what she can do. A couple of seats in front of her at stroke is Sophie Reinehr, named in the U21 Australian eight, and in front of her, Jordan King will be coxing. On another note, Freya Axten also brings a unique Henley Royal Regatta experience, after representing the UK Armed Forces at both Henley Women’s and Henley Royal Regatta in 2023.
Looking at their Henley Women’s Regatta results from this year, the Mercantile eight in the Ron Needs Challenge Cup was beaten by Leander ‘B’, which will have either knocked their confidence coming into Henley Royal or spurred them on. Regardless, their pre-qualification means they may have fresher legs this time.
Calgary Rowing Club, Canada
If we attempt to compare Canadian Henley to our precious Henley Royal Regatta, Calgary could be another coming over to pose a threat. At last year’s Canadian Henley, the club came second in the women’s eight. There were also a number of additional accolades, including a third place in the U23 coxless four, second in the lightweight coxless four, first in the U23 lightweight pair, and third in the Under 23 eight; their sweep prowess is definitely up to scratch.
Unsurprisingly, there are also some standout women in this crew, such as Julia Hill, who has previously competed at the Canadian Nationals in the U23 women’s pair representing Alberta, winning second place this past season. Their cox, Leia Guillaume, has coxed Calgary in 2023/2024 Royal Canadian Henley to A-final finishes, so the booms do not look like they will wreak havoc on this boat. On a more personal level, Shannon Miller sits in this crew as a dual citizen of Canada and Australia, so let’s hope she doesn’t regret having chosen to race for the Canadian side after a race with Mercantile.
Frankfurter Rudergesellschaft Germania 1869 e.V., Germany
The last international entry this year from Frankfurter Rudergesellschaft looks to be a combination of former U19 national team athletes, including several who won silver in the eight at the 2023 U19 World Rowing Championships, so there is no shortage of pedigree. This means that podium finishes for them are not unfamiliar, and it is exciting to see what they could do down the Henley course.
Notable Mentions
The likes of Vesta RC and Tyne ARC deserve a mention in this preview. Vesta were runners-up to Thames in the Copas Cup across both 2022 and 2023, and their performance this season dictates a similar trajectory, but perhaps more so in time for Henley Royal Regatta. Their women’s eight obtained second-place finishes at Heineken Roeivierkamp, Hammersmith Head, and Quintin Head (senior eights) in the winter. Their results have remained consistent when approaching the summer, with golds in the women’s eight at Poplar Regatta, but a comparable strength in fours, with a first place women’s coxed four and a second place women’s club coxless four at the Metropolitan Regatta, making it slightly more uncertain about where their focus lies.
On the other hand, Tyne ARC is a club that has risen up the ranks in The Wargrave Challenge Cup before, having made the semifinal in 2023. Although their second place in the time trial at the Metropolitan Regatta was a huge statement of intent, they fell back to a ten-second gap behind Thames at Henley Women’s Regatta, indicating the scale of challenge they may face in the intense side-by-side racing at Henley Royal Regatta.
Prediction
While many other domestic crews entered in this event have demonstrated some serious speed this season and act as real challengers, I still believe they are some distance off the back of Thames, Leander and Molesey at the front of the pack. However, this isn’t to say that some strong performances and help from the draw won’t allow some new names to make it through to the latter end of the week. It is also fantastic to see City of Cambridge Rowing Club, City of Oxford Rowing Club, Lea Rowing Club, Marlow Rowing Club, Tyne Amateur Rowing Club, Upper Thames Rowing Club and Vesta Rowing Club approaching The Wargrave Challenge Cup with multiple entries.
Overall, the favourite here has to be Thames Rowing Club ‘A’ for The Wargrave Challenge Cup, especially coming off the back of their results this season. However, I doubt they remain as confident after seeing the strength of both Leander and Molesey at Henley Women’s Regatta. It would be great to see some competitive match-ups, particularly from the international crews, as The Wargrave Challenge Cup develops a more concrete history. The message is clear: victory at Henley Royal Regatta in 2025 will be hard-won.
