Huge successes for Imperial at Henley Women's Regatta

The Aspirational Academic Coxless Four ‘A’ collecting the Cathy Cruikshank Trophy © AllMarkOne

Imperial College Boat Club have had one of their most successful entries at Henley Women's Regatta with 20 athletes competing and wins in 3 events.

The Imperial College Boat Club sent 20 athletes - the largest squad in recent years - to compete at this year's Henley Women’s Regatta. The Regatta is a prestigious event, drawing competitors from not only the UK, but across Europe and the US. The weekend culminated in successful wins for Imperial in 3 events - the Aspirational Academic Coxless Fours, the Aspirational Single Sculls and the Championship Pairs in a composite with the University of London Boat Club.

"I am immensely proud of our women’s squad here at Imperial, not just for their fantastic performances this weekend, but for their progression over the last 4 years." Lucinda Douse Imperial College Boat Club

On the first day, 5 of Imperial Boat Club’s 6 entries progressed through the time trial, with the novice crew the fastest non-qualifying crew in the Aspirational Academic Eights. This was a fantastic achievement for the novice squad, who were racing far more experienced athletes after learning to row only this academic year. Laura Ellington, who previously won the Aspirational Academic Coxless Fours in her first year at Imperial in 2021, raced well to narrowly lose out to a strong Cambridge sculler in the Championship Singles.

All other crews won their first round, putting 10 athletes through to the quarter finals. This was a fantastic achievement for the squad, with the same number of student athletes now progressing to the weekend of the Regatta as had been entered even as recently as 5 years ago.

The Aspirational Academic Coxless Four ‘B’ were knocked out by Harvard in the quarter final. However, the tables turned as the ‘A’ crew progressed through their quarter final over Oxford and subsequently rowed over in their semi-final against Harvard who were disqualified for a steering fault. They went on to win the final over Oxford Brookes to win the Cathy Cruickshank Trophy.

Aoife Keane was racing the Aspirational Single Sculls after a fantastic season in the single. She sculled maturely in all of her rounds, often rowing through crews in the second half. She took the win in the final of the Aspirational Singles over Nottingham University to take home the Bernard Churcher Trophy.

Finally, Lizzie Witt raced well to confidently progress to the final of Championship Pairs with her partner Emily Lindberg of King’s College London. Lizzie recently won Sportswoman of the Year at the Imperial Sports Awards and raced brilliantly to win the Championship Pairs event over Leander/ULBC to win the Redgrave Challenge Vase.

This year’s Captain, Lucinda Douse, who recently won the Outstanding Contribution Award at this year’s Sports Awards, said: "I am immensely proud of our women’s squad here at Imperial, not just for their fantastic performances this weekend, but for their progression over the last 4 years.

"Thanks to continued support from both the College, our coaching team and our alumni, the numbers in the squad have been steadily growing and our results have flourished to match. The women’s squad had their best performance for many years at BUCS Regatta in May, winning 4 medals across beginner, intermediate and championship events."

This included the first national championship gold for the club since 2018 and the first championship fours medal for the women’s team in 10 years.

She added: "The women’s squad at Imperial have gone from strength to strength, and rowing with this group of driven, hard-working and kind teammates has been without a doubt the highlight of my time at university. These achievements are securing Imperial as a premier club for student women’s rowing, and I can’t wait to see how the squad continues to progress over the years to come."