News

Posted: 15 June 2023

Henley Women’s Regatta (HWR) gets underway on Friday with a record entry of 518 crews.  In total, 119 women and girls have travelled down from Scotland to compete in the premier regatta for women in the United Kingdom along with dozens of coaches, parents and supporters.

Here we look at some of the Scottish crews and athletes to watch:

Photo – Championship 4- composite crew (ASRA / GHS / SPRC) with coach Tom Young

Junior 18 Eight (J18 8+) – Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association

ASRA will be looking to build on their 4th place finish from the recent National Schools’ Regatta at Dorney Lake when they start their campaign in the Peabody Cup.  Coxed by Lily Arthur and stroked by Freya Hughson - both winners at last year’s regatta in the junior women’s coxed four, setting a new course record time – the Aberdeen crew have been together all season and took second place in the women’s open eights at the recent Scottish Rowing Championships at Strathclyde Park.  HWR will also be seen as a stepping stone towards Henley Royal Regatta in a couple of weeks where they will be the first ever crew in ASRA’s history to compete at the world-famous regatta.

Junior 18 Coxed Four (J18 4+) – The Glasgow Academy

This Glasgow crew contains several experienced Henley campaigners including Carmen Buter who was a finalist in this event last year, and Kloe Hunter and Sofia Nielsen who both progressed to the semi-final stage in the J16 coxed four.  They are joined by Briony Wood, winner of the recent National Schools’ Regatta championship girls’ single scull title and the 2022 British Rowing Championships J14 single scull (won whilst representing Clydesdale ARC).  All four girls were part of the Scottish Argonauts junior composite crew that enjoyed a record finish at the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race in March.

Junior 18 Single Scull (J18 1x) – George Heriot’s School [Sarah Happs]

Sarah has enjoyed another strong season with both one and two oars after finishing last season with GB selection and two gold medals in the junior women’s eight at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Spain.  Part of the Scottish Rowing Junior Academy programme Sarah won the championship girls’ coxless pair at the National Schools’ Regatta in May, her second consecutive National Schools’ title after being part of the winning coxless four in 2022.  Demonstrating her versatility, she has now made the switch back into her single scull and will be hoping to see how far she can go in the Di Ellis Trophy.

Development Coxed Four (D 4+) – Edinburgh University Boat Club ‘A’

The Edinburgh beginner programme under the coaching of Mike Hughes continues to produce high-quality crews and this crew will be one to watch in the Frank V Harry Cup.  Four out of five of this crew won the women’s beginner coxed four and eight at this year’s BUCS Regatta and two of the athletes – Grace Dawson and Josephine Briggs – took the silver medal in the women’s open pair at the recent Scottish Rowing Championships, remarkable given that they only took up the sport just over 9 months ago.  Demonstrating the strength in depth of the squad, the Edinburgh ‘B’ crew contains four athletes with multiple BUCS Regatta medals in the beginner categories so expect them to also enjoy a strong run at the regatta.

Aspirational Quad Scull (A 4x-) – Strathclyde Park Rowing Club / Agecroft Rowing Club / Hartpury College / Leeds University [composite]

This crew comprises four athletes from the British Rowing Start Programme including Strathclyde Park Rowing Club’s Catriona Norval.  Norval was the silver medallist in the women’s open single scull at the Scottish Rowing Championships earlier this month.  This will be the first outing for this particular combination however three of the four athletes teamed up at the Scottish Championships to take the win in the women’s open quad scull.

Championship Eight (Ch 8+) – Edinburgh University Boat Club

Edinburgh’s leading boat at this regatta has enjoyed a competitive season so far with a silver medal at the BUCS Head in February and a 10th place finish at the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race amongst the highlights.  The crew features Anna Buchanan who took home the Di Ellis Trophy in 2019 after winning the Junior 18 single scull representing The Glasgow Academy.  Edinburgh’s most recent performance was winning the B final in women’s championship eights at the Metropolitan Regatta at Dorney Lake and Henley Women’s Regatta will represent their greatest challenge to date.

Championship Coxless Four (Ch 4-) – Aberdeen Schools RA / George Heriot’s School / Strathclyde Park Rowing Club [composite]

Four GB under 19 internationals – all supported athletes on the Scottish Rowing Performance Programme - have come together to compete for the Avril Vellacott Cup.  These include three athletes currently studying in the US – Zoe Beeson (Yale / Aberdeen Schools RA), Isla Wilding (Brown / Strathclyde Park RC) and Morven Thomson (Duke / Strathclyde Park RC) as well as Amy Newton from George Heriot’s School.  Coached by Scottish Rowing Lead Performance Pathway Coach, Tom Young, this young crew will be looking to gel quickly having only come together within the last week.  They will face stiff competition from a couple of Leander Club crews with Scottish interest – former Dundee University Club Captain Eleanor Brinkhoff in Leander ‘A’ and ex. ASRA rower Megan Hewison in Leander ‘B’.

Championship Double Scull (Ch 2x) – Strathclyde Park Rowing Club / Twickenham Rowing Club [composite] & Edinburgh University Boat Club / Newcastle University Boat Club [composite]

Scotland has interest in two of the leading crews competing for the W. Peer Cup.  Multiple Scottish international Perri McCluskey, representing Strathclyde Park Rowing Club, teams up with fellow GB Start athlete Jade Lindo from Twickenham Rowing Club.  Whilst Edinburgh University Boat Club’s Hannah Supple joins forces with Rachel Bradley from Newcastle University Boat Club in an under 23 composite crew.  All four athletes were part of a GB supported development group that travelled to compete at the 2023 International Wedau Regatta in Duisburg last month and will be amongst the favourites for this event.

Championship Coxless Pair (Ch 2-) – Leander Club / University of London [composite]

World Rowing under 23 silver medallist Abigail Topp from Aberdeenshire switches to the pair at this regatta teaming up with Phoebe Snowden from the University of London.  Topp and Snowden were both part of the Great Britain team at the 2019 World Rowing Junior Championships and will be one of the frontrunners to take the Redgrave Challenge Vase.  Up against them will be several familiar faces including Aberdeen University’s Maisie Aspinall and Emily Carruthers, former Glasgow University rower and Oxford Blue, Claire Aitken, and Laura D’Urso, the former Assistant Coach at George Heriot’s School.

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Racing gets underway on Friday morning with time trials commencing from 9am.  Finals are scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

For a full race schedule please visit the Henley Women’s Regatta website.

There will also be a live stream running across the weekend on the Henley Women’s Regatta YouTube channel and you can also follow the action on social media @HenleyWRegatta and @ScottishRowing.

Scottish Rowing wishes all competitors an enjoyable and successful weekend and we hope that the sun will continue to shine!