Holders: Thames Rowing Club
Entries: 51 (to be reduced to 32 by Qualifying races)
The Thames Challenge Cup is perhaps my favourite event at Henley Royal Regatta. There are a few reasons for that, but one is that the athletes on display represent what it truly means to do the sport. When you sit on the bank of the river and watch them go by, you will have to remind yourself that they are not professional athletes; they are primarily full-time workers. With some of the crews in this event, you could easily mistake them as otherwise, and that speaks volumes for what has happened to club rowing in the UK. Looking at the crews racing, the middle of the pack is getting noticeably faster. You now have clubs like Marlow entering the conversation with the established front-runners of Thames, London and Molesey. Elsewhere, it is hard not to be impressed by provincial rowing. Derby and Hereford, historically small clubs, are now playing their part on the biggest stage, and it’s thrilling to see as someone who loves the sport. Whatever happens, we are guaranteed a week of stellar competition and surprises.
Thames Rowing Club
The holders, the front-runners – the underdogs? Having won three of the last four Thames Challenge Cups, Thames RC have become very familiar with this event. Interestingly, I don’t think that many people will bet on them to win. As was the case last year, much will be said about their neighbours, their main competition. For those who do that, I will remind them of what happened last year and the narrative that unfolded. Thames are serial winners. They’re comfortable turning up on the day and doing their job; the pressure isn’t on them. This was the case last year, and it’ll be the case again this year.
Thames might have edged it at the Head of the River Race, but the Metropolitan and Marlow Regattas gave us very different outcomes. Racing over the two events, Thames lost both. Naturally, this should indicate something very different to what I’m predicting, but I have a sneaky feeling Thames can pull off a result here. When Sander Smulder’s men lined up on the start for the semifinal last year, everyone thought it was London’s to lose. They’d seen off Molesey, and they’d been very professional en route to the Saturday. Thames still rowed through them.
They believed in their process, they believed in their training. Everything they do sets them up to come from behind and win when it counts; I think they will do the same again here.
London Rowing Club
The challengers to the throne of club rowing, London still have it all to prove. We know they can emerge as the country’s fastest club eight; they have done it several times over the last two seasons. They just have to do it when it counts.
At the Metropolitan Regatta, they were incredible. On Saturday, they were only beaten by a Cambridge University crew racing in The Grand Challenge Cup and a Leander crew that will race in The Ladies’ Challenge Plate. When both of those were absent on the Sunday, they clocked exactly the same time and took home the win. From this, you can notice something they didn’t have last year: composure. They executed their strategy perfectly when they had the chance to win. If they are to have any hope at Henley Royal Regatta, they have to do the same. Thames were 11 seconds behind them at the Metropolitan Regatta on the Sunday, in a result that they will have found terribly disappointing, especially given that they were only four seconds off the pace the day before. At Marlow Regatta, London doubled down on their good form, winning the A-final ahead of the Brookes Ladies Challenge Plate and Temple Challenge Cup crews. More importantly, the Thames crew that featured Olympic gold medallist James Rudkin was seven seconds behind them.
Considering this, it does not seem logical to suggest that London might not win at Henley Royal Regatta, and frankly, it’s not necessarily Thames that are the problem. All the signs for victory are there. On training camp in Varese, London did a 5:32. They set a course record at Poplar Regatta, clocking 5:33. Last year, London had what they needed to win and could not convert at the highest level. Those who watch sport or compete at any level know how important the mental side of performance is. Stu Heap’s men must believe in what they have done to date, who they are, and what they can become. Including athletes like George Cowley and Zach Baxter, who won The Wyfold Challenge Cup in 2023, will be critical to building a winning formula. If they can put the pieces together, nobody can stop them from winning The Thames Challenge Cup.
Marlow Rowing Club
When it comes to the best of the rest, the leader of the midpack has been Marlow RC. As I’ve said elsewhere in other predictions, I have been very impressed with the club’s growth following their win last year in The Wyfold Challenge Cup. With good depth across the club, this boat should expect to make the weekend if the draw is kind to them.
Winning the Page Trophy at the Head of the River ahead of Molesey, and getting a good C-final at the Metropolitan Regatta, Marlow again performed strongly at Marlow Regatta with a B-final finish. Despite this, they don’t have much chance of winning The Thames Challenge Cup. There’s too much distance between Thames, London, and the chasing pack, of which Marlow is a constituent. In the time trial at Marlow, this was around ten seconds, a margin too substantial to overturn in such a short time. Irrespective of this, it must be a really exciting time to be rowing at Marlow as they look to actively compete on all fronts with the biggest clubs in the country.
Molesey Boat Club
Molesey has given us some interesting results in the bigger boats this season. Whilst the club has performed traditionally very well in The Thames Challenge Cup, they have prioritised The Britannia Challenge Cup, and The Wyfold Challenge Cup in the past two seasons. This means that the two entries from Molesey BC are equivalent to the second and third boats from the Head of the River Race (41st and 57th). This perhaps best explains why they have not been in the conversation with the clubs mentioned above at the Metropolitan and Marlow Regattas, failing to secure anything higher than a D-final. These two crews are very close to one another; there has been little between them at any of the regattas. Having the firepower to compete with anyone, I’m confident that we haven’t seen the best of either of the Molesey entries.
Leander Club
This crew are perhaps one of the fastest Thames Challenge Cup contenders from this historic club in recent years. Comprised of members of Leander’s gap year programme and coached by Matthew Brown, this crew placed fifth at Marlow Regatta in their most recent outing, winning Tier 2 club eights and only losing out to Thames (by two seconds) and London, who won the whole thing. They were second at Head of the Trent, second at Bristol University Head and placed tenth at the Head of the River Race.
To win The Thames Challenge Cup would be a crowning glory for this programme, which has been running now for several years. Making a weekend seems a more likely destination for this boat, but anything can happen with the benefit of a partisan crowd on home water.
Vesta Rowing Club
We’ve seen a bit of everything from Vesta this season. Their top boat, a Wyfold Challenge Cup entry, looks very strong, and their Thames Challenge Cup entry performed on par with clubs like Molesey at the Metropolitan Regatta. I’m not sure what happened between then and now, but Marlow Regatta saw them slip to two and four finals behind Molesey’s respective first and second crews. Looking at the clubs that finished around them in the time trial, it is not what you would expect from a club like Vesta. From what we have seen of them this season, Marlow bucks the trend. It is an outlier; they have gotten faster and faster since the Head of the River Race. It might be that there was a technical error at Marlow, so, somewhat overlooking this, we do know what they are capable of and the level they have performed at. Considering this, their Henley Royal Regatta fate greatly depends on the draw. They could go a few rounds, but they might be unfortunate. It is hard to know.
Sydney Rowing Club, Australia
The only Australian entry in The Thames Challenge Cup, Franz Imfeld’s Sydney will be desperate to go deep into the competition. Having not entered since 2023, when they lost in the final to Thames, could their attendance reflect an internal optimism about how they might compare to the rest of the field? Formed primarily from an unbeaten NSW, Australian National Championships, and Gold Cup crew, they have recorded times as fast as 5:35 on the water over the 2km distance this season. This is as good a time as we have seen from anyone in the domestic field. The crew is bolstered by the inclusion of Maxim Moloney, who arrives from the winning U21 eight at both the National and NSW state championships. Their average 2k time is apparently 6:09.3, which would certainly make them competitive in the wattage department.
Koninklijke Amsterdamsche Roei- en Zeilvereeniging ‘De Hoop’, Netherlands
Finalists in each of the last two years’ competition, De Hoop can’t be written off. Losing by a smaller margin against Thames than London, they are serious contenders. Having recorded a time of 5:36 at the Bosbaan at the beginning of the month, they are in very similar territory to London and Sydney. Reinforcing this with a 6:01 at the Dutch Championships in the coxless four, they are undoubtedly an elite crew looking to take it one step further than they have recently done at Henley Royal Regatta. Another question is whether they can do that next week; they will not come into the competition as frontrunners. Like most international entries, we do not know much about them until we have seen them race a few times. Only then will it become clear whether they will continue to be the worthy challengers for The Thames Challenge Cup.
Münchener Ruder-Club von 1880, Germany
Having beaten every German and Swiss eight that they have raced this year, Münchener Ruder-Club will have a lot of confidence heading into the competition. Having only recently set a new club record time of 5:44 at the Bosbaan, they are peaking at just the right time. Considering this, it’ll be interesting to see what they can do in this particular field of entries. They should be able to make it relatively far into the competition as their top-end appears to surpass most domestic entries. I do not think that they will win the competition, especially not given what we know about other international crews like De Hoop and Sydney. That does not have to define their competition, though; their fate will be in the hands of the draw, meaning that anything can happen.
Deutscher Ruder-Club von 1884, Germany
Helping us apply a little more perspective on the above and their German counterparts are Deutscher Ruder-Club, who placed 59th at the Head of the River Race, the seventh-fastest overseas entry on the day. It is a perfectly respectable result that most clubs would be happy with, though it does not set the world alight. Relative to our own domestic crews, Deutscher should be somewhere around the same standard as Molesey B. Having already raced at quite a few regattas this summer, they will be sharpened and ready for another trip back to the UK. Finishing second and third across a weekend of racing at Ghent Spring Regatta, before getting two third-place finishes at the Bosbaan, Deutscher have a lot of talent, though I don’t expect them to be lifting the trophy come Sunday.
Neusser Ruderverein e.V., Germany
Also competing at the Head of the River Race was Neusser Ruderverein, who came 44th, third from the overseas crews. They are the third of the German entries in this year’s Thames Challenge Cup, and going off the results at the Head and Ghent May Regatta, they are a stronger outfit than Deutscher. With nothing remarkable about their season other than a first-place finish at the Bremer Ruderregatta and a fourth-place finish at the ARB Regatta in Amsterdam, they are too far off from their domestic opposition, Münchener, to compete.
Barbarians Rowing Club, Australia
This crew formed in 2023 to compete at Henley Royal Regatta in 2025. With a crew average ergo of 6:18:2, their wattage is respectable, but with few notable results, it is hard to be sure how fast this crew will be. The Stewards clearly feel they’re worthy of a slot in the main Draw, which is why they have been prequalified to compete on Tuesday. The crew is coached by David Weightman, a former Olympic silver medallist, and it seems that several of the athletes hail from Brisbane Grammar School or St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace.
Prediction
Thames and London are the best domestic crews that we have to offer; if anyone beats them, it will be one of the international entries. De Hoop will be the favourites for this mantle, though Sydney are an equally valiant competitor as both have posted times that compete with the very best of what we have seen from the Putney clubs. Whilst it might seem like nobody else is really in the fold, Marlow might still surprise several of these crews and make the latter stages of another, thrilling iteration of The Thames Challenge Cup.
