Royal Chester Rowing Club

Our Junior Summer School is off to a flying start! Great to see our attendees this week enjoying the sunshine 🙌🏻

We still have places available for the weeks beginning 10th and 17th August - see our pinned post or drop us a DM for more details!

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Royals sent crews from the Junior and Senior squads to the British Rowing Club Championships at Holme Pierrepont earlier in the month. Our athletes raced on Friday and Monday in glorious warm weather. There were some great results across the board, including:

💫 1st in the B Final for the senior men’s Op Club 2x
💫 2nd place in the B Final for Josh in the Op J15 1x
💫 5th in the A Final for Isla and Maeve in the W J15 2x

Many of the junior crews doubled up in age categories or boat classes, making it a busy weekend for all of the athletes, the J15 group in particular. Thank you so much to our junior coaches and parent helpers, as well as all involved in towing, trailering, and rigging!

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Our J14/15 squad recently raced at Ironbridge Regatta, with twenty crews racing across both days, and had a highly enjoyable and successful weekend, with wins in coxed fours and doubles for this talented group. Thank you to for hosting a great event, and, as usual, thank you to all the parents and volunteers who support our juniors when racing away.

🥇Op J15 4x+
🥇W J15 4x+
🥇W J15 2x

Henley Royal Regatta 2026 - The Wargrave Challenge Cup

Our senior women’s 8+ did the club proud at HRR. Having gone through qualifiers at a later time than initially planned to avoid the scorching heat, they were one of only six provincial crews who made it into the main draw for the Wargrave.

Racing for the first time on Tuesday, a tough draw against Molesey R.C ‘B’ saw them knocked out in the first round. The race was close; having been beaten by the same Molesey crew at HWR ten days earlier, the girls approached the race with great determination, and held their opposition to the same verdict of 1¼ lengths over a longer distance.

Our Wargrave ‘A’ boat was the only women’s crew from the North-West region to qualify for HRR this year, which represents the continual growth and strengthening of the senior women’s squad here at Royals. They are hugely grateful to everyone who came to support and clap out (or watched from afar), and to those who helped with trailering, blade painting, and supporting them across the season.

Want to join us next year? DM us or fill out the form in our bio.

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Henley Royal Regatta 2026 – Britannia Challenge Cup

Our men’s coxed four, made up of athletes Ed Press, Harry McGarva, Alex Bain, Will Lupton, and cox Sarah Armstrong, arrived in Henley with a recent run of excellent regatta results, and a combined HRR appearance count of 46. This experience proved critical in their campaign of thrilling races across the week.

Wednesday saw them win by 1¼ lengths over Fairmount R.A (USA) in the fastest Brit race of the day. Their quarter final on Thursday featured a strong comeback versus Thames R.C ‘B’, rowing through to win by ½ a length. On Saturday, their gutsy semi-final against London RC saw the crew close from 1½ lengths down to overlap, finishing just ½ length short in an incredible display of physical and mental strength.

Royals as a whole is extraordinarily proud of the crew for their achievements this week, and the composure and passion with which they represented our club. They were also one of only two provincial club crews to make it through to the semi-finals this year, once again punching above our weight on the national rowing scene.

Congratulations to K.A.R.Z.V. De Hoop, who won the event, and massive thanks from the crew to everyone who supported – including on the bank, at the boat tents, watching online, sending messages, towing trailers and painting blades.

Want to join us next year? DM us or fill out the form in our bio.

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ROYALS RACING TOMORROW

HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

Wargrave ‘A’ races tomorrow at 3pm against Molesey ‘B’. They will be boating at 2:15pm, Boat Tent E - meet us there to clap the crew out.

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HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

The Britannia Challenge Cup

C: S. Armstrong
S: E. Press
3: H. McGarva
2: A. Bain
B: W. Lupton

Coach: Jamie Leighton

Our Brit entry heads to Henley bolstered by a hugely successful racing season so far, having won at Nottingham City Regatta and reached the A Final at both Met and Marlow. They have been selected by the Stewards, and will race on Wednesday against Fairmount R.A, USA.

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Our senior athletes did us proud at Henley Royal Regatta qualifiers this week.

Royals had five crews racing at qualifiers across a wide range of boat classes - Wargrave, Wyfold, Double Sculls, and Diamond. Whilst four of the five did not qualify this time, each crew put everything into the race on a very hot and windy course, and we are enormously proud of every athlete who competed.

It was also incredible to see so many current and past Royals athletes racing on the Henley stretch, as well as the other North West clubs. Well done to all who qualified!

Onwards to the big one - crew announcements and race times coming soon.

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HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA
The Wargrave Challenge Cup ‘A’

C: Z. Smith
S: C. Gray
7: M. Garbutt
6: A. Beacom
5: I. Wild
4: E. de Vries
3: E. Shipston
2: A. Simms
B: G. Silver
Coach: Chris Hudson, Jamie Leighton, & Pete Dean

Wargrave A are aiming to repeat history and qualify for a second time. They gave a strong performance at HWR, which saw them finish 6th out of 26 crews in the time trial and reach the quarter finals. With over half of last year’s Wargrave crew returning in this combination, their goal is to go even further - and climb even higher - at HRR.

Time Trial: 8:30pm, Friday 26th June

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HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA
The Wyfold Challenge Cup

S: B. Barker
3: J. Bentley
2: T. Lawrence
B: M. Lees
Coach: Jamie Leighton & James Kinsey

Our Wyfold crew has demonstrated their determination on the national stage, and now head to HRR for one final run down the course. Containing both first-time entrants and seasoned competitors, they are ready to flex their speed at qualifiers tomorrow.

Time Trial: 7:21pm, Friday 26th June

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