Oxford Brookes rowers triumph at Henley Royal Regatta with six trophies on finals day

Oxford Brookes University rowers excelled at the world famous Henley Royal Regatta earlier this month, claiming six trophies on finals day.

Rowers from Oxford Brookes University Boat Club (OBUBC) competed in eight races on finals day on Sunday 7 July.

Richard Spratley, Director of Rowing at OBUBC, said: "The Henley Royal Regatta once again delivered fantastic results for Oxford Brookes University, marking another triumphant year for our rowers. Their hard work and discipline have truly shone through once again, and they deserve all the praise for their remarkable achievements."

The University’s first prize of the day came in The Grand Challenge Cup, when a Men’s Eights crew made up of Oxford Brookes and Taurus Boat Club - a rowing club created for former members of OBUBC - beat the University of Washington, USA by three and three quarter lengths. This came just after OBUBC rower Jenny Bates competed with Freya Keto of Thames Rowing Club in the Women’s Double Sculls, finishing as runners-up in their final against a German national boat. 

The combination of OBUBC and Taurus Boat Club then came up just short in The Visitor’s Challenge Cup, where the Men’s Coxless Four narrowly lost out by one length to Leander Club A’s boat. 

However, that proved to be the last final that Oxford Brookes contested that they did not win, and shortly following this two Women’s Eight crews took home The Island Challenge Cup and The Remenham Challenge Cup, overcoming crews from Newcastle University and Princeton Training Centre & Advocates Rowing Initiative of Northeast USA.

The Men’s Eights then continued the form shown by the women when they beat Princeton University USA to claim The Temple Challenge Cup, and then two more Men’s crews, both coxed and coxless fours, finished a fantastic day for Oxford Brookes by winning The Stewards Challenge Cup and The Prince Albert Challenge Cup, with the former final race being contested by two Oxford Brookes crews.

At the 2023 Henley Royal Regatta, Oxford Brookes enjoyed the biggest ever trophy haul for a single club in the history of the competition, when they came away with seven trophies. 

Last month it was confirmed that eight of the athletes selected for Team GB’s Olympic Games 2024 rowing squad were former OBUBC members, who join an illustrious list of 12 former students from the University who have competed at Olympic Games. This news followed on from OBUBC winning eight medals at the Koninklijke-Holland Beker regatta on 1 and 2 June in Amsterdam, and a table- topping display at the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) regatta in Nottingham in May. 




The victorious Men's Eight's crew, after winning The Grand Challenge Cup. Image credited to AllMarkOne. 



The Remenham Challenge Cup winning crew, Oxford Brookes University Boat Club Women's Eights. Image credited to AllMarkOne.