Cambridge celebrated an outstanding week at Henley Royal Regatta 2026, highlighted by a decisive victory in the Temple Challenge Cup. The Light Blues delivered a series of impressive performances throughout the regatta, showcasing the depth and strength of the Club across multiple events.
Alongside the Temple success, the Cambridge-Harvard composite reached the final of the Ladies’ Challenge Plate. Five further Cambridge crews progressed to the quarter-finals of the Island Challenge Cup, Prince Albert Challenge Cup, Diamond Challenge Sculls and Hambleden Pairs Challenge Cup, while Ellie Sillar progressed to the semi-finals of the Bridge Challenge Plate as part of a composite crew.
Congratulations to all our student-athletes for their remarkable achievements, and to the many Cambridge alumni who competed and secured victories in their respective events. We are also immensely grateful to our alumni, members and supporters whose encouragement throughout the season helped drive these performances.
Cambridge Men | Henley Royal Regatta
The Temple Challenge Cup
Congratulations to the Cambridge A crew on their victory in the Temple Challenge Cup. Featuring athletes from the Blue Boat, Goldie and the third eight, the crew produced an outstanding run, advancing with wins over Oxford Brookes D, Bristol, the University of London, Oxford Brookes A and the University of Washington, USA, on their way to victory.
The win was particularly significant as it marked the final race in Cambridge colours for stalwart Matthew Edge and outgoing Men’s President Noam Mouelle, a four-time Boat Race winner.
Cambridge University A
Bow: Joe Travis (Jesus)
2: Matthew Edge (St. Catharine’s)
3: Max Deering (Peterhouse)
4: Raph Berz (Clare Hall)
5: Simon Hatcher (Peterhouse)
6: Noam Mouelle (Hughes Hall)
7: Will Klipstine (Hughes Hall)
Str: Patrick Wild (Peterhouse)
Cox: Freya Jenkinson (Selwyn)
The Ladies’ Challenge Plate
The Ladies’ Challenge Plate crew brought together athletes from the Blue Boat and Goldie, alongside incoming talent from Harvard University, to form a highly competitive Cambridge-Harvard composite. After an impressive week of racing, the crew progressed to the final, where they faced a strong Leander outfit. In a hard-fought race that went right to the line, Leander narrowly edged the victory by just one-third of a length. On their route to the final, the crew recorded impressive wins over Oxford Brookes and the University of Washington, USA. It was a fantastic performance from a newly formed crew and an exciting glimpse of the strength and potential that lies ahead.
Composite Entry
Bow: Alex Finger (Wolfson)
2: Julian Thomas
3: Matt Waddell
4: Ben Campbell-Reid
5: Kyle Fram (Lucy Cavendish)
6: Simon Nunayon (Emmanuel)
7: Calvin Tarczy (Wolfson)
Str: Tyler Horler
Cox: Sammy Houdaigui (Fitzwilliam)
The Prince Albert Challenge Cup
Lightweight men’s cox Alex Taylor joined members of the openweight squad for a strong campaign in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup. The crew progressed to the quarter-finals with victories over Koninklijke Studenten Roeivereeniging Njord of the Netherlands and Algemene Utrechtse Studenten Roeivereniging Orca of the Netherlands. Their run came to an end against Imperial College (eventual winners), who narrowly secured the win by one length. The quarter-final appearance marked an impressive showing from a crew that combined talent from across the Club.
Bow: Sean Hayes (Jesus)
2: Gill Dexter (Jesus)
3: Matt Morgan (Pembroke)
Str: Milo Taylor (Hughes Hall)
Cox: Alex Taylor (Clare)
The Diamond Challenge Sculls
Lightweight sculler Nikita Mohr (Peterhouse) reached the quarter-finals of the Diamond Challenge Sculls. He opened his campaign with a commanding victory over M.Q. Oddershede of Bagsværd Roklub, Denmark, winning comfortably before advancing to face one of the world’s leading single scullers, his fellow countryman Oliver Zeidler (eventual winner) of Frankfurter Rudergesellschaft Germania 1869 e.V., Germany.
The Temple Challenge Cup
Cambridge B also earned qualification for the Temple Challenge Cup. The crew’s campaign concluded in the opening round with a hard-fought race against the University of Bristol, who secured the victory by one length.
Cambridge University B
Bow: Victor Viennot-Bourgin (Darwin)
2: Jeremy Wilkinson (Churchill)
3: Alex Myhill (Robinson)
4: Alex Geddes (Fitzwilliam)
5: Josh Moore (Queens’)
6: Freddie Challacombe (St Catharine’s)
7: James Richards (Girton)
Str: Archie Smith (King’s)
Cox: Lidya Acar (Wolfson)
Cambridge Women | Henley Royal Regatta
The Island Challenge Cup
Cambridge A progressed to the quarter-finals of the Island event, defeating Durham University B and the University of Miami (USA) before pushing the University of Washington (USA) all the way, ultimately losing by just two-thirds of a length. The Club says goodbye to long-serving Light Blue and outgoing Women’s President Gemma King, who was racing in her final campaign for Cambridge.
Cambridge University A
Bow: Mia Freischem (Darwin)
2: Phoebe Pryce (Homerton)
3: Charlotte Ebel (Newnham)
4: Mathilda Kitzmann (Christ’s)
5: Alexandra Wiley (Jesus)
6: Aidan Wrenn-Walz (Fitzwilliam)
7: Gemma King (LMBC)
Str: Eloise Etherington (Caius)
Cox: Matt Moran (Emmanuel)
Cambridge University B
In one of the standout performances of the week, Cambridge B caused an upset by defeating Yale A on Thursday, having already secured a convincing two-and-a-half-length victory over Delftsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Laga (Netherlands) on Wednesday. Their impressive run carried them through to the quarter-finals, where they faced a formidable Oxford Brookes A crew and bowed out after a well-rowed race.
Bow: Hannah Warren (Jesus)
2: Anna Golbus (Clare)
3: Katarina Finney (Fitzwilliam)
4: Anna Elvre (Homerton)
5: Imogen Breeze (Lucy Cavendish)
6: Nicole Wojtania (Jesus)
7: Fizz McNally (Sidney Sussex)
Str: Annabel Munro (Peterhouse)
Cox: Lauren Schneiderman (St Edmund’s)
Hambledon Challenge Cup (W2-)
Following qualification, Bryden and Campbell began their campaign on the Friday, in the quarter-finals, before being defeated by A. Santruckova and P. Flamikova of Sportovní Klub Hamr and Policejní Sportovní Klub Olymp (Czechia).
Bow: Lyndsey Bryden (Peterhouse)
Str: Isobel Campbell (Hughes Hall)
The Bridge Challenge Plate
Ellie Sillar (Emmanuel) reached the semi-finals of the Bridge Challenge Plate as part of a composite GB U23 crew. The crew secured victory over a composite crew from Oxford Brookes University and Taurus Boat Club on Friday before their campaign came to an end against Thames Rowing Club, who prevailed by one length.
Cambridge Alumni
Congratulations to the many Cambridge alumni who raced across the week. Notable wins came in the Stewards’ (James Robson, Douwe de Graaf and George Bourne), Princess Grace (Imogen Grant), Wargrave (Rosa Millard, Hannah Murphy and Millie Hopkins) and the Bridge Challenge Plate (Tash Morrice).
CUBC also celebrated the anniversary of the 1996 Ladies’ Plate victory with a row past during the tea interval on Saturday. The crew formed the first Cambridge eight to win at Henley since 1858. The crew was joined on the banks by legendary coach Donald Legget.