Holders: Marlow Rowing Club
Entries: 67 (to be reduced to 32 by Qualifying races)
Since the regatta started broadcasting in 2015, The Wyfold Challenge Cup has served up some absolute peaches when it comes to racing, not least last year’s crescendo between Marlow and Thames. For Marlow, it was the club’s first Henley Royal Regatta win, creating magical memories that will last a lifetime for the athletes. For now, the slate has been wiped clean and new names and fresh challengers have entered the fray along with battle-hardened Henley veterans who all hope to end this campaign with immortality, their names forever etched into the history books.
In 2025, The Wyfold Challenge Cup has grown. 58 crews have expanded to a mammoth 67 entries, but only one can walk into the sunset as the credits roll with that famous little red box.
Marlow Rowing Club
The holders, the defenders. However, it is unlikely to last much longer. Not to start this preview on a damp note, but it won’t be back-to-back titles for the local crew, and the Stewards don’t think so either, with this crew being asked to go to Qualifiers on Friday. The majority of this Marlow crew was part of the quartet that was second in the F-final of coxless fours at Marlow Regatta, and if they repeat that performance, they won’t be making it through Friday’s time trial.
Thames Rowing Club
The favourites? Perhaps. Throughout the season, Thames has been compiling an enviable CV, and with 14 Henley Royal Regatta appearances between the crew, they have a vast amount of experience when it comes to racing between the booms. As for this season’s results, it has been superb. The crew were second and fourth respectively across the two days of racing at the Metropolitan Regatta and even beat their club’s Visitors’ combination in the process on day one. Since then, they have solidified themselves at the top of the domestic ranking following their fourth-place finish at Marlow last weekend. However, it wasn’t a dominant margin between them and London. Just two seconds and the crew from the University of British Columbia separated the two boats, but the pendulum of momentum is firmly with Sander Smulders’ men as we get set for the grandest stage of them all.
London Rowing Club
The 2023 win for London was a defining moment in the club’s recent history and has catalysed the rapid rise in stock price out of the club’s boat bays. Rising stock prices are certainly a good theme for this season as well. We could taste a glimmer of their potential at the Metropolitan Regatta when they placed fourth in the championship coxless fours time trial, but were then forced to withdraw from racing due to illness. Add into the mix that they won championship coxless fours at Wallingford Regatta and were second in open coxless fours at Poplar, and you have the makings of an outstanding boat. It is worth noting that this crew have been able to call upon the experienced Edoardo Marshall, who was part of the winning crew two years ago. Throw in 2022 Sculler’s Head winner Rui Xu, Harvard alum James Clarke, and stroke man Ben Edmundson, and it is no wonder they came within touching distance of Thames just a few days ago.
Vesta Rowing Club
Having seen the results trickle through from Marlow Regatta, the impression is that London and Thames are in a league of their own, with the rest of the world playing catch-up. If that is the case, then Vesta were the best of the rest on Dorney Lake, coming in just under 14s behind London. In James Cracknell’s first and final season at Vesta, his top eight placed 27th at the Head of the River Race, and all four of his Wyfold Challenge Cup entry come from that crew. Vesta has shown some cracking indications of their potential as the season has switched to regatta racing. Over the two days at the Metropolitan Regatta, it was tenth and eighth overall in coxless fours. Combine those results with a fourth-place finish at Poplar, and you have the makings of a crew that should have its eyes set on a weekend berth in this competition.
Commercial Rowing Club, Ireland
At this point, it’s important to bring Commercial into the conversation. While Vesta may not be able to challenge Thames or London, Commercial might just be able to spoil the party. Based on the Liffey, just outside of Dublin city centre, these are the top athletes from Commercial’s Head of the River Race crew that placed 18th and won the Overseas Pennant in March. Since then, they have made one more trip over the Irish Sea and goodness me, it was a statement of intent. Sunday’s result from the Metropolitan Regatta is the most important and clearest indicator of this crew’s potential. A third-place finish and a cracking final 500m to row through Thames’ Wyfold crew could arguably make them favourites for the entire event, but I’m not sure if I am prepared to go that far out on a limb. They have been tearing up the domestic scene in Ireland, winning the likes of Erne Head and Skibbereen Grand League and will travel to Henley Royal Regatta with complete confidence that they could be the first Irish crew to win The Wyfold Challenge Cup.
Club de L’Aviron de Vichy, France
The French are the second of just six international crews in this year’s competition, despite a field of 67 entries. However, they’re not messing around with their entry. There are 37 – yes, you read that correctly – national championship titles shared between the quartet and the individual accolades continue to impress. This unbeaten crew contains Ivan Bové, who has been to three U23 World Rowing Championships, most recently in 2018. From 2019 onwards, he started to try his hand offshore and on the beaches, placing fourth at last year’s World Rowing Coastal Championships in the Coastal Men’s Solo event. As for the rest of the crew, they are stroked by Louis Droissart, a former European U19 champion who has made three trips to the U23 World Rowing Championships. They are a crew to be taken seriously, and with this amount of pedigree and horsepower onboard, they will have their eyes firmly set on a weekend race in the hopes of adding more silverware to the three national titles they have won in this crew since September 2024.
Tyne Amateur Rowing Club
This preview was opened with the talk of some phenomenal contests in this event, and Tyne ARC has been in their fair share of bobby dazzlers. It’s not uncommon for Tyne to target The Wyfold Challenge Cup; this year is no different. They have been finding speed at just the right point in the season and managed to sneak into the A-final at Marlow ahead of St Andrew and Northwich, who both finished their time trial within two seconds of Tyne. One of Tyne’s most significant assets is that the river that lends its name to the club has a 1500m stretch that is dead straight, allowing their crews to duke it out with the likes of Durham University and Newcastle University on an almost weekly occurrence as part of the Newburn racing Series. The results from Marlow Regatta indicate that a considerable amount has been learned in these pieces, as the club previously finished eighth at the Metropolitan Regatta. They have a saying in Newcastle that the Tyne God trumps Poseidon. The real question is whether the Tyne God can conquer its southern cousin in the greatest arena of them all.
St Andrew Boat Club
St Andrew Boat Club, no ‘S’. Take note. They even have a boat named ‘Without The ‘S.’ Rowing lesson over, on with the report card, and it’s a good one for the Scots. They return to The Wyfold Challenge Cup after a first-round departure at the hands of Seeclub Zürich in 2024, but results this year suggest they should expect to go further. Having just talked about one of the biggest training tools that Tyne has at their disposal, St Andrew can use Strathclyde Park, just a 45-minute drive from their boathouse on the Union Canal. On this course, they were crowned Scottish champions in the coxless fours. The Scots travelled south of the border to race at Marlow and despite narrowly missing out on the A-final, they won the B-final in a time that would have seen them place higher than Vesta. Read into that what you will.
Globe Rowing Club
You will start to see a pattern develop over the next block of crews as they all featured in the B-final at Marlow Regatta. Globe were the best of the English crews in this race, just over 1.5s back in St Andrew. This is a homegrown crew of east-end lads, three-quarters of whom learned to row at Globe. They, too, have a 2km course they can use for training, and they won on home water at Poplar Regatta in the trophy category for coxless fours. Winning has been a theme across the season for Globe, who also travelled north to Nottingham City Regatta, where they won intermediate fours shortly before collecting their Band 2 coxless fours title at Reading Amateur Regatta. While semifinals are perhaps out of reach, it is clear that Globe has the speed to get through a couple of rounds of racing with a favourable draw.
Upper Thames Rowing Club
If you cast your minds back to 2014, you’ll remember the sublime Henley Royal Regatta campaign that Upper Thames was able to deliver. Fuelled by defeat in the final of The Thames Challenge Cup at the hands of Griffen Boat Club, Upper Thames targeted the two club fours events and were victorious in both this Trophy and The Britannia Challenge Cup. Since then, Henley Royal Regatta finals have been few and far between, with the only appearance coming in 2016 when they fell to Grasshopper-Club, Zurich. Fast forward nine years, and it seems likely that the wait for another Henley Royal Regatta final might continue. At the Metropolitan Regatta, they tried their luck in the coxed four before racing the coxless four on Sunday. A fourth-place finish in the B-final saw them cross the line before Cambridge City, Royal Chester, and Tyne ARC. Upper Thames will be frustrated that the latter could leapfrog them at Marlow Regatta, a race that saw the Henley-based crew come in about 1.5s down on Globe.
Northwich Rowing Club
It’s a big year for Northwich. They celebrate their 150th anniversary, and this crew, coached by Jed Barlow, is determined to do the club proud during this year’s regatta. Some of this crew, such as stroke George Lawton, have returned to their home club and have been building towards this for several years. Backing up Lawton are the likes of Newcastle University graduate Jack McGinn, and throughout this season, Northwich have performed well. A win in both the championship and open coxless fours at Nottingham City Regatta was followed by a fifth-place finish in the B-final of coxless fours at the Metropolitan Regatta on Saturday. That paved the way for Marlow Regatta, where they once again finished fifth in the B-final, just over a second behind Upper Thames. While this combination is new for this season, they all have raced Henley Royal Regatta at least twice in recent years, including Lawton’s eight previous campaigns.
Royal Chester Rowing Club
Next up in this B-final escapade, we find Royal Chester. Led by coach Jamie Leighton, this will be his 25th Henley Royal Regatta campaign as either a rower or a coach, and he’s spent 15 of those with Royal Chester. One of the standout athletes is Yorkshire’s Ed Press. One of two Newcastle graduates in this crew, he hails from York City, where he first raced Henley Royal Regatta back in 2014 in The Fawley Challenge Cup. Backed up by Felix Rummel, Fraser Morgan, and William Lupton, Royal Chester were C-finalists on the Saturday of the Metropolitan Regatta before sneaking above Tyne ARC, who beat them the day before, in Sunday’s B-final. Come the Marlow Regatta, and there was less than 0.4s between themselves and Northwich.
City of Cambridge Rowing Club
City of Cambridge are another club splitting their top eight into fours for the regatta season. This quartet were 70th at the Head of the River Race and since then, were finalists at Bedford Regatta in open coxless fours before beating Royal Chester to sixth place in the B-final of the Metropolitan Regatta on the Sunday. However, results from Marlow show that either the Cambridge crew have stepped on or that the Royals have found another couple of gears because the crew from the River Dee were nearly eight seconds quicker than Cambridge a few days ago.
Eton Vikings Clubs
Now then. This unit from Eton Vikings is a fascinating roster. In years gone by, this would have been a formidable combination. Samuel Irving, in the bow seat, recently graduated from Durham University, where he spent last season in their first eight. Before that, he won championship eights at the National Schools’ Regatta in 2022. Moving through the crew list, we reach two-time Oxford Blue Benedict Aldous and sitting in front of him, a Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup winner in the shape of Henry Pooley. Stroking this boat is Imperial College London graduate Max Ridgwell. ‘On paper’ is a wonderful phrase for this boat. A win in Marlow’s C-final, with a time that would have them ahead of Upper Thames, suggests they have only recently come together and are improving with every outing and every opportunity to go down the race track. The trouble is, they have to face Qualifiers, and what this crew could really do with is a few more races under their belt before being thrown into the Henley Royal Regatta spotlight. That said, it is incredible what a bit of positive momentum can do for a crew.
Lea Rowing Club
Like the Vikings, Lea are destined for the Qualifiers. They were 2.5s behind the Eton old boys at Marlow Regatta, and the C-final has been a constant theme for them throughout summer racing. A few weeks before Marlow Regatta, Lea travelled to Dorney for both days of racing at the Metropolitan Regatta and finished seventh and third in the C-final, behind Globe Rowing Club on both occasions.
Molesey Boat Club
Molesey have been trialling various combinations of a Wyfold Challenge Cup crew throughout the season, and the standout result is that they were A-finalists on the Sunday of the Metropolitan Regatta. However, we were due to see their set crew for this Trophy race at Marlow, but they did not start the time trial. This will be why the Stewards are sending them to Qualifiers. However, Samuel Knight, Phillip Neesom, Thomas Rimmer, and Phillip Sturley are more than capable of advancing on Friday and should be reasonably confident of putting together a bit of a run in this year’s Wyfold Challenge Cup.
Tideway Scullers’ School
Despite winning the D-final, Tideway Scullers have been prequalified for this event. Something was amiss in their time trial because their time of 6:56 would have put them just ahead of Globe in the B-final or ahead of Tyne ARC in the A-final. This crew is capable of quick performances, as the Metropolitan Regatta showed when they won the D and then the C-final over the two days. Syracuse graduate and U23 European medallist Lawrence Joss teams up with Nicholas Challinor-Halford, Temple University graduate Adam Oliver, and Scotland international Kieran Brown, who’s been a stalwart of Tideway Scullers over recent years. The jury is still out on this combination. I is all very well winning minor finals, but they have not put themselves in a position to see how they stack up when the pressure is really on against some of the favourites for the event.
Ruderverein Datteln von 1928 e.V., Germany
This crew were due to have their first race of the season together at the beginning of the month. We did not get to see them race for whatever reason, and that is probably why the Stewards sent them to Qualifiers. However, individual accolades alone should be enough to carry them through Friday’s racing. Much like the aforementioned French crew, this crew is packed full of national champions across a plethora of different boat classes, particularly the eight and coxless four. Their stroke man, Sören Henkel, has won medals on the world stage for Germany at the U19 and European and World Rowing Championships, and he’s not the only one with international experience. William Strulick has made two trips to the U23 European Rowing Championships, winning a bronze medal in the coxless four back in 2018.
TBC Racing, U.S.A
The Stewards have given this American outfit the green light for prequalification. One explanation for this is the combination of Patrick Rogers and Mark Canniff in the boat’s bows. The two were second at the 2023 US Rowing Trials in the lightweight pair and have had numerous podium finishes at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. They are joined by Dartmouth College’s Andrew Curry and the University of Virginia’s Michael Leon, who has previously raced for his alma mater at Henley Royal Regatta.
Calgary Rowing Club, Canada
Back for the second year in a row, the Canadians are having another crack at The Wyfold Challenge Cup. Last year, they fell to the winners, Marlow, in a thrilling contest on the Thursday. Calgary led to the barrier before being overhauled by the event winners, who would row through and win by one length. Hoping to go further, the Canadians have one returner from that crew 12 months ago. The rest of the crew are all young, all U23 eligible and have raced across Canada at the likes of Royal Canadian Henley with considerable success. Crews do not travel across the pond unless they back themselves to do well, and as such, we should expect to see Calgary advance through the Qualifiers and into Saturday’s draw.
Sydney Rowing Club, Australia
I hope you’re still with me because we’ve reached the end of the preview after 3000 words. It’s great to be able to welcome a brilliant contingent of crews from down under, and Sydney are making up a decent chunk of that. Leading this crew is Ambrose Hennessy, who is making the transition to senior rowing after winning the U19 World Rowing Championships in the coxed four. Returning home to the UK is Tom Patrick, who looks to avenge his Henley Royal Regatta racing from last year after losing to Leander by one foot on the Thursday of The Fawley Challenge Cup. Like Calgary, Sydney will have to go through Qualifiers, but that should be a walk in the park for these athletes. Bigger challenges will likely await them in the main draw, and a favourable outcome on Saturday, providing they make the draw, should see them progress nicely through this year’s event.
Other mentions…
At this point, it is only right to mention the ‘B’ crews of both Thames and London. We expect their ‘A’ boats to go blow for blow to lift the trophy on Sunday, but the two clubs are the only ones to pre-qualify two boats for this event. An awesome achievement.
Prediction
You’d be a fool to bet against Thames. That being said, sometimes it pays to be a fool and backing London, Commercial, Club de L’Aviron de Vichy or even Sydney could well stand you in good stead. Maybe I am a fool, perhaps I am delusional writing this at 2 am, and I will possibly live to regret this, but give me Commercial to flip the script and paint Henley Royal Regatta green.
