A rowing team from Stonehouse-based independent school Wycliffe College has seen off competition to take home the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup at this year's Henley Royal Regatta in July 2024.
Competing in the challenge cup for junior women’s quads, the Wycliffe College crew was made up of four senior students, Lily Martin, Violet Holbrow-Brooksbank, Mia Lowes and Eloise Etherington, who not only faced some of the best rowing teams in the country and internationally, but won their race against rivals, Marlow Rowing Club, by a comfortable margin of four boat lengths.
Globally recognised as rowing's most prestigious contest, Henley Royal Regatta saw international Ivy League teams from US universities such as Princeton and Harvard, along with teams from Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, plus British crews from universities, schools and clubs across the country.
Over six days of racing, the competition was whittled down to two crews, with Wycliffe taking an early lead in the final to longtime rivals Marlow.
The team's victory at the 185-year-old event completes a perfect season for Wycliffe’s top boat, which has gone undefeated all year.
The crew also achieved the exceptionally rare 'quadruple', with wins at the National Schools Regatta, Henley Women’s Regatta and the National Schools Head of the River — which saw Wycliffe break the course record by more than 30 seconds.
In a ceremony on the riverbank of the Thames attended by hundreds, the crew was presented with its trophy and medals by Prince Albert II of Monaco and British Olympic legend Sir Steve Redgrave.
Greg Flower, director of rowing at Wycliffe College, said: 'This has been a groundbreaking year for the club and for it to culminate in the school’s maiden win in the Diamond Jubilee has really demonstrated just how special this crew is. What they have done is truly remarkable.
'Rowing is a sport where you need to trust your crew and work flawlessly as a single unit, and for them to have dominated such a competitive field for a full season is exceedingly rare and is a testament to their calibre as athletes and as friends.
'The support we continue to receive from the school, parents and the rowing community means the world, and every win this season is just as much for them as it is for us.'
