Holders: Oxford Brookes University
Entries: 3
A significantly reduced entry compared to last year, but that is entirely down to the introduction of the new women’s intermediate eights event, The Bridge Challenge Plate. This means that The Remenham, like The Grand Challenge Cup, is now an event for national squad-level crews. The three crews entered in 2025 are the same three as for The Grand Challenge Cup; Great Britain, racing as Molesey Boat Club and Oxford University, the Netherlands (Hollandia Roeiclub) and Australia (racing as Rowing Australia). Like their male counterparts, the British eight have been the dominant force this season, winning GB’s first European title since 2016, and following that up with a win at the opening World Rowing Cup. The crew is Eleanor Brinkhoff, Juliette Perry, Amelia Standing, Martha Birtles, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Heidi Long, Megan Slabbert, and coxed by Jack Tottem. This is three of the crew that won bronze at the Paris Olympic Games (Irwin, Long and Stewart), but again, like the GB men’s crew, what is so impressive about their performances so far this season is a significant number of the crew are in their first full season on the senior team.
Australia come into Henley Royal Regatta with the same lineup that finished in bronze at the Varese World Rowing Cup, five seconds behind the British. The crew is Emmie Frederico, Eliza Gaffney, Georgie Gleeson, Ella Bramwell, Georgina Rowe, Jamie Ford, Paige Barr, Jacqueline Swick and cox Hayley Verbunt. Four of the crew (Rowe, Swick, Barr and Verbunt) were in the fifth-placed eight at the Paris Olympic Games and were also part of the crew that won bronze at the 2023 World Rowing Championships.
The Dutch were runners-up to the British at the European Rowing Championships this season, and their crew for Henley Royal Regatta has only one change, with Lisanne Van der Lelij replacing Clarie De Kok. Der Lelij (who raced in the quad in Plovdiv) joins Nika Vos, Vera Sneijders, Hermine Drenth, Ilse Kolkman, Ymjke Clevering, Tinka Offereins, Linn Van Aanholt and Dieuwke Fetter. Drenth, Clevering and Offereins are Olympic champions from the women’s four in Paris and Vos and Kolkman have a World Rowing Championship silver medal from the quad in 2022.
Prediction
The Stewards will likely give the British a bye to the final, so the semi between Australia and the Netherlands could be a pretty good battle. I will pick the Netherlands to face the British in the final, with the home team coming out victorious.
