Day two of the regatta presented far more favourable conditions for racing, temperatures dropping to mid-twenties and the sun shrouded behind clouds that even delivered the odd shower. The wind also delivered some incredible times, building throughout the day until we saw one of the oldest records in the regatta fall at the hands of London‘s Thames entry. For the Aussie contingent, we started the morning with 31/32 of our entrants still remaining on the draw. By the time we called stumps at 7:40 on day two, that number was 27.
Race One: The Wargrave Challenge Cup – Shiplake Vikings R.C. vs Mercantile R.C.
For the second day in a row, it was an Australian crew matched up against a British alumni club in the club eights. This time in the women’s, it was Mercantile against Shiplake Vikings. Mercs didn’t have the same tussle as Barbarians in yesterday’s opener though, leading comfortably the entire way down the course. The crew, which contains most of the silver medallist Club Eight from nationals had a bye in yesterdays racing, and used that extra energy effectively to control the race early. Thames and Leander equalled and then broke the Fawley record in quicker conditions later in the morning, so Mercantile will need to find another gear for their matchup against Thames in what should be a great matchup on Friday after a day off tomorrow.
Race Three: The Thames Challenge Cup – Sydney R.C. vs De Hoop, NED
One of the races of the day in prospect, this matchup between two crews with the potential to race the finals was one many around the boat tents were awaiting with anticipation. This race would have been more at home taking place on semi-finals day rather than round two. At the End of the Island, it was the Dutch crew with half a length of ascendancy. Taking advantage of the conditions, they went on to equal 31-year-old record to the Barrier. Sydney didn’t let up at any point, maintaining overlap throughout the entire 2112m of the course. While the momentum changed hands several times, the lead didn’t, and in the end, De Hoop would progress to race London B on Friday.
Race 19: The Prince Phillip Challenge Cup – Kinross Wolaroi vs Godolphin & Latymer School
In their first lap down the course after yesterday’s bye, the much-fancied girls from Kinross got a great start in their triple-bucket-rigged eight. They were untroubled by any advances from Godolphin & Latymer, who had already chalked up a win against Kingston on Tuesday. The girls from orange got a little flustered in the middle of the course, coming across some wash that hampered their rhythm. As a result they took a bit longer to settle into a place where they could conserve some energy, but with a day off tomorrow, their experience down the track will serve them well in what will be an exciting contest with Latymer Upper on Friday.
Race 26: The Prince Phillip Challenge Cup – Shiplake College vs Mercantile R.C.
This was always going to be a tough matchup. Facing National Champions Shiplake in the second round of racing was a big task for the Mercs girls. They fought valiantly for the first half of the race, but in the end didn’t have the minerals to hang on to the polished local favourites. With Mercantile looking to continue entering in this event in future years as a development pathway for the club, it’ll be fascinating to see what learnings are implemented next season.
Race 31: The Wyfold Challenge Cup – Sydney R.C. vs Vesta R.C.
Vesta Rowing Club were set to be the biggest obstacle en-route to a weekend appearance for the young Sydney crew, and we were on the edge of our seats in the press box for this matchup. However, a tight battle did not materialise after Vesta encountered some steering issues and a rather violent encounter with the booms. As such, the race was over after thirty strokes. Sydney will no doubt be very pleased with the chance to conserve a lot of energy after bringing down the intensity at the Fawley marker. They’ll need that rest ahead of their quarterfinal against Tyne A.R.C. tomorrow, who set similar times to the Barrier and Fawley.
Race 41: The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup Challenge Cup – St Ignatius College vs Hampton School
This race was set to tell us where St Ignatius sat amongst the incredibly professional hierarchy of UK schools rowing. Hampton school came into the race perhaps as slight underdogs off the back of a sixth place at National Schools Regatta. Hampton have clearly stepped on impressively since that blustery day at Nottingham in May, and flew out of the blocks amongst quick conditions. They were able to break clear of the undefeated Australian outfit not long after the End of the Island, and proceeded to come within a second of matching the Barrier record set by the imperious 2018 St Pauls champions. No doubt this will be a tough pill to swallow for the crew that has utterly dominated every last stroke of the 2025 Australian season. I hope that this result only spurs Australian crews to step on further, as clearly there’s a lot of ground to make up if the The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup is to return down under any time soon.
Race 61: The Temple Challenge Cup – D.S.R. Laga, NED vs King’s College, Queensland
King’s College from the University of Queensland has a great history of visiting the regatta and competing here consistently over the past decade. The crew is a collegiate crew within UQ, and as such, we don’t see them compete regularly on the Australian circuit. Drawing Laga, the incredibly successful Dutch university in the first round would have disappointed King’s, but they certainly gave it a good crack the whole way down the course. Unfortunately, as my colleague in the commentary booth, Tom Morgan, described it, there was a chasm between the two crews as Laga took the win by a comfortable margin in the end.
Race 79: The Britannia Challenge Cup – Marlow R.C. vs Sydney R.C.
It’s certainly been a day of mixed fortunes for Sydney, and their Britannia Challenge Cup entrant was favoured to put a more positive spin on a Wednesday that saw their priority Thames eight eliminated. Sydney lead in the early stages of the race, and certainly looked a class outfit with a lot of length and poise. It was all about the home heroes of Marlow in the second half of the race though, who found a brilliant rhythm to pile the pressure on before breaking clear water in front of the stewards crowd. A particular shoutout must be given to the two coxes who have been a part of this crew, Hannah Cowap PLY who had to be substituted due to an eligibility issue just last week, and Henry Burton who was drafted in from the Riverview crew that competed earlier today. A change in cox in this event is potentially very disruptive to everyone involved so kudos to the performance put on regardless.
Thursday Preview
Thursday is set to deliver a host of Australian crews to the course for their first races of the regatta. We’ll get to see how our national champion and medallist quads perform in shape of Marist College Canberra vs Hartpury and Kinross Wolaroi vs Shiplake in the Fawley, as well as Canberra Girls Grammar vs Claires Court and Mercantile (Gippsland) vs Kew House in the Diamond Jubilee. Of those races, I’m most curious to see how the Mercantile vs Kew House matchup progresses, Kew were originally coached by now-Sydney-coach Paddy Graham and had their first ever Henley Royal Regatta race win on Tuesday, so their momentum could cause some upset to Mercs.
We’ll also see some of our senior Australian athletes take to the water in small boats with Bronwyn Cox and Georgia Patten from Western Australia taking on a German combination in their year off from the National Training Centre. They should be able to deal with this experienced German pair; however, the waters of Henley can be tricky in the small boats, so this will be one to watch. The Australian champion men’s double of Oscar Mcguiness and Mitch Reinhardt will face off against a Leander pairing who had to come through qualifiers. Although this isn’t a certain read on form, the former-lightweight national team duo should have no troubles dispatching of the Brits here.
Sydney will also continue its campaign as the sole remaining entrant in the Wyfold, set to face Tyne A.R.C. in what will be the greatest challenge of its campaign yet.
