Thames claims two trophies at Henley Women's Regatta

In a breathless 10 minutes of racing at Henley Women’s Regatta 2025, Thames RC retained the Copas Cup for club eights and won the Lester Trophy for club fours in back-to-back races.

The Copas Cup crew had come into HWR having won club eights at the Metropolitan Regatta, but knowing their competition would be hot on their heels. They had a solid timetrial - posting the fastest time of the field - and proceeded through the first three rounds of the event with no mishaps, paddling out each race.

The final was a different matter. Opponents London RC stormed out of the start and took a slight lead by the bottom of the island, but the Thames crew got into a better rhythm in the challenging, windy conditions and took a lead of almost a length. London kept fighting and their closing sprint took them to just a 1/3 length margin - but Thames had done enough to retain the cup, winning it for a fourth year in a row.

Straight afterwards the Lester Trophy crew were on the start for their final. The four, including two members of the crew which had reached the semi-finals in 2024, knew they had raced well throughout the regatta and had plenty of confidence. They stayed cool as fellow finalists Upper Thames edged out a tiny advantage; by the Barrier, Thames were ahead and continued to stretch out to about a length for the rest of the course.

HWR 2025 concluded with an epic final in the Ron Needs Challenge Cup for championship eights between Thames A and a Durham University/University of London/Leander Club composite. It was bowball to bowball for the first 500m before the composite managed to pull a little further ahead. Thames stayed in touch, and unleashed a mammoth sprint to the line which fell just short. The two crews could well meet again in the Bridge Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta.

On Saturday, Thames B in the Ron Needs Cup lost to Oxford Brookes University BC A in the quarter-finals by 1/3 length, also fighting back in the closing stages Brookes went on to lose to Thames A in the semi-finals.

Two other Thames crews reached the semi-finals at HWR this year. In the Chairman’s Trophy for aspirational quadruple sculls, Thames produced a classy row with superb steering from Tilly Appleby but could not overpower the eventual winners, a GB Performance Development composite. Meanwhile in the Avril Vellacott Cup for championship fours, Thames lost to Leander by two lengths.

The double scull of Isabella Roper and Aloma Blanch, racing for the Rosie Mayglothling Trophy, had a solid timetrial and won their first round before losing to the eventual winners from Leicester RC in the quarter-finals. Emma Greer and Livia Lisi-Vega in the same event missed out on the side-by-side racing after a hard-fought timetrial.

With four crews entered in the Wargrave Challenge Cup, two in the Bridge Challenge Plate and two in the Town Challenge Cup, the women’s squad now turn their attention to HRR.