With just under three weeks since Henley Royal Regatta 2025 drew to a close, I caught up with Grace Prendergast (New Zealand rower, Olympic champion and silver medalist 2020 and five-time world champion), and Jess Eddie (GB rower and Olympic silver medalist 2016) to relive the magic of what many describe as one of the pinnacles of world rowing – through the eyes of a Steward.
Henley Royal Regatta was first held in 1839, established as a single day event on a 2112-meter stretch of the River Thames. What began as a small-scale event has evolved into the Henley Royal Regatta we know today; 27 events over six days, hosting athletes from Junior to International levels. This year, Henley welcomed 4,367 competitors to its waters, here to row in prestige that Grace and Jess, now both Stewards and Officials for the Regatta know all too well.
Reflecting on Henley from their own experiences, both Olympians praised the opportunities that the Regatta brings for athletes across the full spectrum of our sport. Grace reminisced on Henley as some of her favourite racing, matched races with a “knockout system which you don’t get anywhere else in world racing.” “Setting the bar for side-by-side racing”, as Jess described it, both talked of the vibrant culture of Henley that brings the rowing community together in style. With world class racing on the water, and a party-like spectacle on its banks, Henley provides those watching with a whirlwind medley of fancy dress, polished silverware and beloved traditions – a unique culture that distinguishes and elevates the Regatta season upon season.
Whilst both Grace and Jess have raced at Henley, it is their ability to add to the regatta that earnt them their places as Stewards and Officials. Stewards have the crucial role of running the regatta, overseeing everything from timetabling to decisions surroundings broadcasting and event formats. This requires constant evaluation and, as both emphasised, innovation. What makes Henley such an enjoyable and memorable event to watch is at the forefront of the Organising Committee’s intentions too, considering those lining the banks or those spectating from a highly calibrated live stream.
Recounting the qualifying race day that occurs a few days prior to the start of the Regatta, Jess described the process as a “one-day head race for nearly 600 crews”, before running a multiday racing showcase. Framed in these terms, the monumental efforts of the Stewards and Organising Committee become clear, as they manage climbing entry numbers and the Regatta’s ever-growing history. “The wider sporting population is always on our minds”, Jess stated, making clear that Henley Royal Regatta’s ambitions to not only serve the rowing committee, but contribute to the broader sporting scene in the UK.
Much like the always uncertain and ever surprising nature of racing between the booms, Henley Royal Regatta does not run without challenges. Remembering a year when commentary was left stranded by a thunder and lightning strike that put all live footage out of action, Jess recollected receiving command from the production manager to fill the time, ad-libbing commentary together with Baroness Katherine Grainger to an audience of thousands. This is not the first time that poor weather has halted regularities at the Regatta. With wet conditions ruling much of 2024’s competition, the committee were shaken into action last year too, fitting emergency matting overnight to the sodden ground of the enclosures allowing spectating to continue.
This year’s Wyfold Challenge Cup final between London Rowing Club and Sydney Rowing Club illustrated how equipment failure can impact racing too. After London’s boat collided with a log, severely damaging their steering and causing them to plough into their opponents, the racing schedule had to be altered. Quick decisions like these, often made behind the scenes and unnoticed by attendees, are essential to keeping the regatta running like clockwork.
Returning conversation to the pairs’ emphasis on innovation, I asked Grace and Jess what they hoped to see at Henley Royal Regatta in the years ahead. The addition of The Bridge Challenge Plate brought gripping racing from a strong cohort of intermediate women’s eights – a step in the right direction to achieve parity between men’s and women’s events at the Regatta. This is an aspiration that Jess and Grace share with chairman Richard Phelps, who alongside the Organising Committee, are devoted to progressing the Regatta towards an equal representation of men’s and women’s racing.
The Stewards and Organisers of Henley Royal Regatta are fundamental to the racing we know and love. Reaching clubs, schools and colleges through a roadshow campaign, they involve insight from competitors at all levels, an ‘innovate push to engage with the rowing community’ and improve the event they can provide for them. As Jess surmised, “there are people out there, maybe people who haven’t even picked up an oar yet. We want to make sure they have an incredible event to row at in 20 years time.”
Henley did not end after the last boat crossed the line in this year’s Finals. It is an event that builds from tradition, evolving as the year goes on to make way for a fresh, exciting, and well-executed event come 2026.
