The 6.8km stretch between the University Stone and Putney Pier is gruelling at the best of times, but no more so than when racing in a single. 15 scullers from across the country will be competing for the women’s club title; with the entrants coming from a wide variety of competitive backgrounds, the wind and water conditions will likely make all the difference in the race’s outcome.
Thames Rowing Club: Hope Cessford
Hope Cessford will be looking to make her mark in Thames’s red, white, and black. Fresh off the back of a Bridge Challenge Plate campaign at Henley Royal Regatta with a Molesey BC/Newcastle University BC composite, she really outclasses the competition here, with several GB U23 and senior international appearances under her belt (including a gold medal at the 2019 U23 World Rowing Championships in the Women’s Coxless Four). As a junior, she came fifth in the championship single at the National Schools’ Regatta, then spent her undergraduate years rowing at Harvard-Radcliffe. More recently, Cessford won both The Remenham and The Town Challenge Cups in 2021 with Leander and sculled to the semifinal of The Princess Grace Challenge Cup in 2024 with Molesey. It’s safe to assume she will be a formidable opponent this weekend.
Globe Rowing Club: Éva Barrellon-Kendall
Globe RC has three athletes in this category: Éva Barrellon-Kendall appears to be the strongest contender. Her current background is primarily in coastal rowing and beach sprints, winning the C-final of the English Beach Sprint Championships in May, and receiving a bronze medal at the European Rowing Coastal and Beach Sprint Championships in May 2024 with French club Aviron Seynois in the Coastal Women’s Double endurance event. Whilst her offshore rowing experience may benefit her if poor conditions prevail on the Tideway, she also has a strong history in river racing, rowing for the University of Manchester and Agecroft before moving towards a coastal focus. She recently raced at Peterborough Summer Regatta in the single, narrowly coming second in the final on both days, but a gutsy row on Sunday could help her challenge for the top spot in this category.
Shoreham Rowing Club: Melissa Shaw
Melissa Shaw of Shoreham RC also has a background in coastal rowing, having won silver in the PR3 Coastal Mixed Double at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in 2023, and, in the same year, representing England at the Home International Regatta Beach Sprints in the Coastal Women’s Single. Shaw has since been rowing with Shoreham’s senior women’s squad in both coastal and fine boats, coming second in the Coastal Women’s Single at South Coast Championships this year. In 2025, the club competed at the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race for the first time since 2018, finishing 183rd place overall and sixth in the Small Club pennant. Whilst this is her first time racing Scullers Head, I expect Shaw to possess plenty of grit and power, honed through rowing on the sea in challenging conditions, which will stand her in good stead here, as will her experience of racing and coxing the course in larger boats in the past.
Predictions
This is Cessford’s race to lose – I expect a significant margin between her and the other scullers, given her wealth of national and international experience. However, I hope to see competitive racing in the rest of the field, with plenty of highly experienced club river and coastal rowers taking to the Tideway. Éva Barrellon-Kendall would be my pick for runner-up, given her recent racing experience, although she will likely be pushed hard by Melissa Shaw; other mid-field contenders could include City of Oxford’s Ann-Marie Fallon and Eleanor Benson of Kingston Rowing Club.
