For the first time in its history, Henley Royal Regatta has given women a tiered path to race on, not just one event to aim for.
With three new additions for 2026, the Danesfield Challenge Cup, the Princess of Wales Challenge Cup and the Queen Victoria Challenge Cup. These events are all the same boat class as the quadruple sculls and span the Club, Intermediate and Student categories. They take the number of women’s events at the Regatta to 14, with full gender parity between Open and Women’s events.
To mark the moment, Reading University Boat Club’s Izzy Lancaster organised a meet-up for the women racing in the new events. It was advertised through the university rowing network and over 30 competitors turned up to show their support. “I’m really excited to be racing here at the new events,” Lancaster said.
I just think it’s brilliant for overall women’s rowing and women’s sculling
“Especially for students, it’s the first time it’s really appreciated how much we’ve had to balance throughout the whole year. They’ve only ever really had the one quad event. For the men, it’s been both levels, championship and intermediate.
To give the women a shot at competing against people on the same level as them, I just think it’s brilliant for overall women’s rowing and women’s sculling.”
Eibhie McArdle also said the extra opportunities have changed how they plan their season.. “Most of the time, Henley Women’s is normally the end to our season, so it’s so nice to have this extra week and become involved in it,” she said. “Not just from a watching point of view, but to get behind the scenes. I’ve really enjoyed it.”
Speaking on the meet up, Lancaster said: “We just thought nothing like this had been done before,”. “We thought it’d be brilliant to get all the women together to commemorate such an important part in women’s rowing history.”
Organising the event. Lancaster laughed about how she pulled it off: “A lot of emails. Sliding into some DMs, but It wasn’t too difficult, really. I know quite a lot of the people who are competing anyway, so I just contacted everyone to try and get them involved.” “It’s also so nice to be able to race with and against friends that I’ve been around all year”
In the Princess of Wales, Leander Club and Hartpury University wrote themselves as the first ever winners of a round as they beat Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands. In the Danesfield Challenge Cup, that honour went to Cantabrigian Rowing Club who beat Christiania Roklub, Norway and in the Queen Victoria Challenge Cup, it was fitting that Reading University ‘C’ won the first ever race against Edinburgh University.
The new events have welcomed dozens of entries from hundreds of athletes and creates a clear pathway for women’s sculling in the U.K. With a progression route from the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup right the way through to the Princess Grace Challenge Cup, women’s sculling across the country and around the world can continue to go from strength to strength. The memories made at this regatta by this first generation of scullers will be cherished for a lifetime.
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