The Friday of Henley Royal Regatta 2025 promised lots, with many an optimistic school crew arriving teeming with anticipation, prepared to do battle between the booms. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a day that’ll be remembered for resounding green and gold success. An observation noted by many writers in the press box today was that the crews who had raced since their arrivals in Europe tended to handle the pressure better today, whether that be at World Cups, Henley Women’s, or Qualifiers. I’d bet we’ll likely see far more Australian crews racing at Marlow or Holland Beker in years to come as they prepare for their Henley campaigns.
Race 9: The Double Sculls Challenge Cup – J.M. Lomas & A.G. Clack vs O.A. McGuinness & M.J. Reinhard, AUS
After a long wait, having arrived in town on Monday, the Aussie national team finally had their first outing of the regatta in the shape of the men’s double sculls of Oscar McGuiness and Mitch Reinhard, who came up against Leander’s ‘C’ crew of Lomas and Clack. The morning conditions couldn’t have been more ideal, with hardly a pleasure craft to be seen and not a breath of wind. As such, it would have felt like more of a training row for the former-lightweights, who dispatched with the locals by the End of the Island. The chance to conserve some energy will be well-received, as they face up against Leander’s top boat tomorrow, whom the Aussies beat by just under three seconds in the semifinal at the Varese World Cup last month. The home water advantage of Leander should bring them right into contention in what will be one to keep a close eye on tomorrow
Race 12: The Wyfold Challenge Cup – Tyne A.R.C. vs Sydney R.C. AUS
After a troubling day for Sydney yesterday that saw their Thames and Britannia entries eliminated, all hopes of a weekend appearance for the light blues rode on their Wyfold crew. In what was their fourth race down the course after they had to run through qualifiers, Sydney came up against their tightest competition yet in Tyne. After Sydney broke clear water early in the race, the northerners managed to hang on and maintain overlap at times in the race’s late stages. Some steering issues from Sydney in front of Stewards threatened to cause drama, but the umpire saw no issue in the end and SRC booked their place in Saturday’s semi-finals where they’ll face Thames B..
Race 25: The Fawley Challenge Cup – Shiplake College vs Kinross Wolaroi, AUS
There were a lot of nerves around the Kinross tent as they prepared to boat. Nervous coaches, spectators, parents, and athletes as they prepared for their first hit-out on the course against four athletes from local school Shiplake‘s second eight. On the water, it looked like the Kinross outfit transitioned from coxed to coxless quad well, but were outclassed by Shiplake from start to finish. All hopes from the central-west now rest on their Prince Phillip challenger tomorrow as they face Latymer Upper.
Race 33: The Fawley Challenge Cup – Marist College Canberra, AUS vs Hartpury College
The national champions back home, Marist, would have been unfazed by the Kinross result with the confidence that they overturned the boys from Orange at Nationals in an emphatic row. Like Kinross, they looked to have adapted well to the coxless boat, especially as they were the crew with the better line in the opening stages of their heat against Hartpury. They were sitting a neat length ahead at the Barrier and held that lead through Fawley as well. However, Hartpury asked all the right questions in the second half of the race, slowly chipping away at that lead in front of Remenham before breaking the Canberrans before the enclosures. In the end, Marist couldn’t mount a response and fell by a margin of just over two lengths.
Race 40: The Diamond Challenge Sculls – Stefanos Ntouskos, GRE vs Alexander Wolf, AUS
After successfully navigating a blustery qualifiers, Alex Wolf drew a tough first round in the Diamonds, coming up against Tokyo Olympic Champion Stefanos Ntouskos. Wolf, looking resplendent in his bright green stampfli scull, took the race to the Greek, leading by half a length at the End of the Island. Unfortunately, the early lead doesn’t often yield the same advantage in the single as it does in the eights, and the experience of Ntouskos shone through, taking the win by just over four lengths.
Race 46: The Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup – Mercantile R.C. AUS vs Kew House School
After a disappointing morning for green-and-gold hopes, the pressure was laid upon the shoulders of Mercantile‘s junior quad in the Diamond Jubilee. It was a classy performance from the girls from Gippsland, who led Kew House School from start to finish in a classy performance to win by two and a quarter lengths. Interestingly, their time to the Barrier marker was two seconds clear of that set by tomorrow’s rivals from Marlow. Facing the same crew that knocked them out at Henley Women’s Regatta last weekend, this is set to be one to keep your eyes on.
Race 68: The Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup – Claires Court School vs Canberra Girls Grammar AUS
After one victory in the Diamond Jubilee, Australians on the banks were hopeful that the extra racing afforded to Canberra Girls Grammar at Henley Women’s Regatta might be key to securing a Friday berth here at Henley Royal. Unfortunately, the race started on the wrong foot for the girls from the capital, drifting into the centre of the course and then correcting significantly back toward the Buckinghamshire side of the course. Despite this, they were still leading Claires Court at the End of the Island, and continued to do so well into the second half of the race, but the locals’ length and class were too much for Canberra Girls, overtaking before the enclosures and ending another Aussie campaign by two and a half lengths.
Race 79: The Stonor Challenge Trophy – Grace Sypher, AUS & Emma Twigg, NZL vs Lisa Gutfleisch, GER & Sofia Meakin, SUI
It was a case of saving the best till last for not only Aussie hopes, but Kiwi ones too, as the antipodean pairing of U23 Lightweight Single World Champion Grace Sypher partnered New Zealand Olympic Single Scull Gold Medallist Emma Twigg in a cracking doubles race. It was the German/Swiss combination that led early, taking almost a length in the early stages of the race. The experience of Twigg and Sypher was no match, though, slowly chipping away at the early lead to overtake before the enclosures and seal their slot in the quarterfinals by a margin of a length and a quarter.
Friday Preview
Friday, we will once again see a number of crews take to the Thames in anger for the first time this week, this time in the senior events. The Australian Men’s Pair will match up against the Dutch combo that took out South Africa today, whilst the quad will take on Reading University. On the women’s side, the Australian Four will contest the University of London in search of a weekend slot, and Laura Gourley will face Canadian Shannon Kennedy after being afforded a bye in today’s first round of the The Princess Royal Challenge Cup.
Holt and Lavery will race Princeton in their opening round of the Goblets, a crew who delivered a cracker of a race against Germany today. Having built their year out of the NTC system around this event, expect fireworks from the national silver medallists. The West Australians of Georgia Patten and Bronwyn Cox have been hard to miss today, proudly paddling in their WA uniform during the lunch break. They’ll come up against a German combination that hasn’t raced internationally this year either, which should provide an interesting matchup.
On the club side, Mercantile will face the holders of the Wargrave Challenge Cup, Thames, a crew that is bolstered by Australian talent Nikki Martincic. Mercantile also contests the Diamond Jubilee in a rematch of their Henley Women’s race against Marlow last week.
Sticking with the junior events, Kinross will continue their Prince Phillip campaign against Latymer Upper tomorrow – the school that knocked out their quad in 2019 – hoping to book a semifinal start on Saturday.
