I first raced at Henley Women’s Regatta (HWR) as a J16 in 2017. We travelled all the way from Edinburgh to compete, while the boys raced at Marlow Regatta. The boys in our club would say that HWR was “not real Henley”, that women were just not as good to watch, and goad us, asking “why should women race at Henley Royal when they already have Henley Women’s?”
These were the words of immature 15-year-old boys who would (hopefully) be shocked at these inflammatory statements now. But they were cutting to us as teenage girls.
After we had actually experienced it, I didn’t care so much about their teasing. HWR was a weekend of glorious sunshine (and sunburn), screaming for our friends, and watching women we idolised race right in front of us. Coming from north of the border, the sun and elite racing were not a spectacle we got very often.
HWR felt like a shining light – a sign that women in rowing were taken seriously, and that there was a space for us, created by and for women and girls like us.
The words ‘equality’ and ‘progress’ get thrown about a lot, in sport as much as in politics. I think it’s a mistake to use them interchangeably. While Henley Royal Regatta (HRR) has added several more women’s events in recent years, they are only equal in number to the mens’ in the Premier and Junior categories. It was only in 1993 that the first women’s races were created at HRR, so it would be naive to think that women are completely equal there in just over 30 years.
The truth is that no matter how close HRR gets towards real equality, it is a regatta sitting on 185 years of history, and it excluded women for over 150 of them. It is a regatta, like many others, that was exclusively designed by and for men, and that legacy lives on in the modern iteration too, whether we like it or not.
Without an overhaul in structure, it will be difficult for HRR to ever reach true gender parity – already we are looking at nearly a week of racing with the existing races. There is simply not enough space and time to add another five events to reach gender parity. Lily Nguyen discusses some possible changes to HRR structure here.
More days racing means space for more events, but it also means athletes, coaches and spectators have to shell out for extra accommodation costs, travel, tickets, food, drink and living costs. HRR is already known as exceptionally expensive, and the added costs like formalwear and spectator enclosure tickets, make it inaccessible for many people.
Thus, HWR tends to be a more approachable and relaxed environment. There are not the same levels of pomp and traditionalism as HRR, so it becomes more accessible for state schools, student-run colleges, and self-funded clubs, who don’t have the same funding and experience as many historic schools, universities, and clubs who have been competing at HRR for generations.
Finally, representation still matters. HWR is one of the only elite racing spaces that puts female athletes at the forefront, not just as an addition, 150 years after the men started there. HWR champions the representation of women in elite sport, and it’s also the only opportunity for para-rowers to compete on the prestigious Henley course (a problem I wrote about here). It is a Regatta founded by women to fill a gap in the elite racing calendar, and that gap has not yet disappeared. At HRR women’s events are fairly recently added, have fewer categories, and are often not seen as the main events. HWR is a space for women to be put first, and for young female athletes to see role models and pathways not always visible to them.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Henley Royal – it’s a highlight of the summer calendar, but it is behind the times. HWR is both a counter and complement to HRR: it’s a reminder that our sport, steeped in elitism, tradition, and history, can evolve and progress.
