‘We’re in fine fettle,’ says chairman of record-breaking regatta

HENLEY Royal Regatta is in “fine fettle”, its new chairman proclaimed, as racing drew to a close on Sunday.

Richard Phelps, who took over from Sir Steve Redgrave after 10 years in the role, said the numbers this year spoke for themselves.

Over the course of the six-day racing programme, almost 4,500 athletes took part in 403 races with a domestic entry record of 589 crews as well as 179 from overseas.

Sixteen records were broken on finals day, knocking off a combined total of 84 seconds and for the first time in its history the regatta held
27 finals on Sunday.

Shiplake College made history, winning the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup for the first time, while they were also losing finalists in the Prince Philip Challenge Trophy.

Leander Club had athletes in five finals and brought home three titles, down one from last year.

“By god, you are a good-looking bunch of people,” Mr Phelps told the crowd gathered in the Stewards’ Enclosure during Sunday’s prize-giving ceremony.

“People who work with me will know that I like data and stats,” he continued, before reeling off a list of the week’s highlights. “I suggest to you that this has been a fantastic regatta. Year after year we have been blessed with amazing weather, wonderful racing and spectacular finishes.” Mr Phelps welcomed Jean-Christophe Rolland, the president of World Rowing, who was invited to present the awards to the winners.

He joked that Mr Rolland, a three-time Olympian and former member of the French rowing team, was in fact welcome at the regatta despite inflicting defeat on several of its stewards.

He said: “Demonstrating that the stewards are a tolerant and forgiving group, you are welcome here JC, despite what you did to some of our cohorts. Notably Ben Helm, who you beat in the final of the stewards in 1994 and, of course, Greg Searle in the final of the men’s pair at the Sydney Olympics.

“Despite these two dastardly acts, we all salute you, your achievements, your values and what you’re doing for our sport.”

Addressing the crowd, Mr Rolland who won a gold medal in a coxless pair at the 2000 Games, described the royal regatta as “more than just a regatta”.

He said: “It is not only a celebration of excellence on the water but a deeply rooted tradition that connects generations of rowers, supporters and enthusiasts of our sport.”

Addressing this year’s participants, Mr Rolland said: “Congratulations on your dedication, on your resilience, on your pursuit of excellence.

“Whether you live with a trophy or with the memory of the hard-fought race, the experience of Henley will stay with you for life.”

Following a sweltering start to the week, competitors faced highs of 31C on Tuesday, the opening day. Temperatures cooled as the week went on and there were light showers on Saturday.

Between races on Thursday, Olympic rower Imogen Grant travelled from Henley to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough to work a shift as a doctor and back again.

Grant, who lives in Henley, won a gold medal at Paris in 2024 in the lightweight double sculls with teammate Emily Craig. She previously rowed for Cambridge University’s boat club where she obtained her medical degree in 2023 and in August started her first foundation year as a doctor.

At the regatta she represented Upper Thames Rowing Club in the Princess Royal Challenge Cup for women’s single sculls and Cambridge in the Bridge Challenge Plate. Grant said: “They weren’t able to give me the whole day off — they’ve let me come in a couple of hours late.

“Things have to change a little bit when you’re working full time and you have to roll with the punches a little bit.

“But I feel like I’m sculling well and I’m really enjoying everything that I’m doing, so I can’t really ask for much more than that.”

Matilda Macartney, 19, from Nettlebed, who coaches swimming at The Oratory Prep School in Goring, rowed with Leander in the Bridge Challenge Plate.

She was cheered on by her mother Hilary Taylor and the race was livestreamed to her pupils.

Despite losing out to Marlow Rowing Club on Thursday, Macartney said it was a great experience to row at the regatta for Leander for the first time.

Miss Macartney said she disliked the sport at first when she started out aged 14 at Henley Rowing Club in Wargrave Road.

She said: “Originally, I was a swimmer and I decided I didn’t want to swim anymore. Dad said, ‘you have to do something so you should try rowing’. I absolutely hated it.

“For two years, I was desperate to quit but dad said, ‘you are not allowed to quit until you have raced at Henley Royal Regatta’. I was like, ‘I don’t want to race at Henley, I just want to quit now’ but I made it to my first Henley as a J16 and it was amazing and I’ve never looked back.”

Former Shiplake College rower Will Carey was wearing a custom-made, mixed blazer from tailors Collier and Robinson in Greys Road, Henley.

Mr Carey, 27, who lives in Reading, had designed his jacket to display both the red, black and gold pinstripe of his school crew and the purple of his alma mater, the University of London.

The blazer alternated between the designs so with a sleeve of each colour and a clashing half and half canvas.

He said: “I had seen all the mixed blazers around and I thought, ‘I want one of those’. So I went to Collier and Robinson and I asked them if we could design one together. It’s a bit different because everyone’s is usually half and half but I thought I would make it random.

“I still have the originals but because Shiplake and University of London are both racing I will wear this one. If only one crew is racing I will wear the other blazer.”

Mr Carey raced at Henley Royal with Shiplake College in 2015 and 2016 and raced with University of London for the following four years.

He said: “I only ever got to the Friday but the best part about it was the friends. People row for different reasons but I always rowed for my friends and I was the best I could be for my friends and I wanted to make sure they had a great time.”

Jenny Sanmogan, from Sonning Common, attended the royal regatta for the 32nd time this year.

She said: “It has fabulous. Tuesday was a little warm but it’s just lovely. I think the worst year I’ve been was last year, when it rained every single day and was freezing cold. But this year, it’s perfect again.”

Her son James, a member of Upper Thames Rowing Club, added: “The rowing has been really good. We had our three senior squad cruisers in the morning and two crews in the Wyfold [Challenge Cup]. Unfortunately, they got knocked out yesterday, but they did get through to Wednesday. I didn’t qualify, I was only a few seconds off. But next year!”

Carol Frost, from Scarletts Lane in Hare Hatch, said: “It’s always amazing when the sun shines, it’s such an incredible event.

“I’ve been a couple of times before but haven’t been for a long time – it’s lovely to come back and be reminded of the spectacle, the Englishness and the amazing diversity of the people that are here. It’s a really interesting crowd for just people-watching on its own. It’s a whole rowing community coming together and it’s fabulous to see.”

Sally Teesdale, 63, who lives in Henley, went to watch regatta on Thursday and Saturday.

She was joined by guests for tea at Leander Club before heading up the towpath to watch the racing.

“I found it quieter this year,” she said. “I live in the centre of town and it seems quieter. The weather has obviously helped it along. Tea at Leander was lovely. The racing has been good and we’ve enjoyed that. I just enjoy soaking up the atmosphere.”

Around 300,000 people descended on the town throughout the course of the week to watch the races and enjoy the atmosphere.

Famous faces spotted in the crowds included actor Mark Strong, politician Jacob Rees-Mogg, and pastry chef Cherish Finden.

On Friday, spectators watched a flyover by the Red Arrows, who flew over the course in the early evening. Towards the end of the week, Henley town centre slowly filled with partygoers as the majority of crews were knocked out prior to Sunday’s finals.

On Saturday night, dozens of revellers danced on top of a number of boats docked outside the Angel on the Bridge pub, which had transformed its outdoor seating area into a covered dance floor.

By 8pm, the queue for the Catherine Wheel in Hart Street stretched down past Jonkers Rare Books while pubs hired DJs at venues, including the Three Tuns, the Argyll, Bull on Bell Street and the Cheesy Grape.

Down beside the towpath, a number of pop-up bars served drinks late into the evening. For the first time, the new club CALA was set up on the grounds of Remenham Court, in place of the iconic Mahiki.

Boats manned by Thames Valley Police patrolled the river until the early hours of the morning to keep a watchful eye on revellers on its banks.

PCs Aaron Francis and Louise Dwyer were stationed in Henley for regatta weekend. The pair were overseeing crowd control on the Berkshire side of Henley Bridge on Saturday and Sunday.

PC Francis said Saturday was busy throughout the day but the town really picked up between 10pm and midnight after regatta bars closed.

He said: “We were here from about 4pm onwards but everyone was fairly well-behaved. There was a good vibe. It’s always busy on the bridge. It’s Henley, so the roads are always busy, but you add an extra couple of thousand people to it.

“We’re specifically stationed on the bridge to prevent people from getting hit by cars as they are crossing but, in general, it’s all just crowd management and making sure drunk people aren’t hurting each other or themselves.”

A team of 12 volunteers patrolled the River Thames in boats throughout Henley Royal Regatta to keep the course free of birds.

The team is formed of Swan Support volunteers as well as swan uppers who work for David Barber, the King’s Swan Marker. Since last Monday, they have rehomed 17 swans and a family of seven cygnets from this stretch of the river to the Swan Support base in Bray.

Wendy Hermon, treatment and rescue co-ordinator at Swan Support, said: “We take all the swans back to our base at Bray, they stay with us for a holiday.” The swans were driven back to Henley from Bray on Monday.

Ahead of the annual swan upping scheduled for Wednesday, Ms Hermon said more cygnet nests had been preserved than last year when many were washed away by flooding. This included a pair at Marsh Lock with nine cygnets and a pair in Fawley Court that have seven.