Princess Royal Challenge Cup

The Princess Royal Challenge Cup is a rowing event for women's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to all eligible female scullers.

History

In 1982 an invitation exhibition event for women's singles was added to the race programme. The start for this event was moved to Fawley so that the course was closer to 1000 m. As the intermediate start installations were required for the shorter distance, the races had to take place during intervals in the normal racing programme (the lunch or tea breaks) which meant that only the dedicated stayed to watch.[1]

In the end, the final of the Women's Invitation Single was a highlight of the regatta, with Beryl Mitchell of Thames Tradesmen’s Rowing Club (World Silver medallist in 1981) beating Stephanie Foster of Waiariki Rowing Club, New Zealand (World Bronze medallist in 1982) by one length.

Women's singles disappeared off the race programme until 1993 when an open Women’s Single Sculls event, over the full course, was introduced. From 1993-6 this counted as a round of the FISA World Cup.[2]

The first winner was Maria Brandin of Sweden and she subsequently won a further four times. In 1996, the Stewards purchased a silver cup as a challenge trophy and named it the Princess Royal Challenge Cup; it was presented for the first time in 1997.

Winners

Princess Royal Challenge Cup (Women's Open 1x)
Year	Winner	Club	Runner-up
1982	B.E Mitchell	Thames Tradesmen's Rowing Club, GBR	S Foster
1993	M H Brandin	Kungalv Roddklubb, SWE	A M A Bredael
1994	M E McBean	Western Middlesex RC, CAN	K Boron
1995	M H Brandin	Kungalv Roddklubb, SWE	S S Laumann
1996	M H Brandin	Kungalv Roddklubb, SWE	C Luthi
1997	M H Brandin	Kungalv Roddklubb, SWE	G Batten
1998	M H Brandin	Kungalv Roddklubb, SWE	G Douglas
1999	K Rutschow	RC Wannsee Berlin, GER	M H Brandin
2000	D K Flood	Tideway Scullers School, GBR	M H Brandin
2001	E Karsten	Minsk City Club, BLR	K Rutschow-Stomporowski
2002	R Neykova	Club Academic, BUL	K Rutschow-Stomporowski
2003	C J Oliver	Australian Institute of Sport, AUS	D R Martin
2004	C S Bishop	Riverside Boat Club, USA	R Geyser
2005	R Neykova	Cherno More Club, BUL	F M Milne
2006	S Balmary	Club France, FRA	M van Eupen
2007	M Guerette	Radcliffe Crew, Harvard University, USA	J C Goldsack
2008	C Ryan	Garda Siochana Boat Club, IRL	M H Pauls
2009	E K Twigg	Hawkes Bay Rowing Club, NZL	G L Stone
2010	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	G L Stone
2011	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	G L Stone
2012	I Penney	Kingston Rowing Club, CAN	K Pajusalu
2013	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	Emma Twigg
2014	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	Krisztina Gyimes
2015	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	L.I. Scheenaard
2016	L I Scheenaard	Hollandia Roeiclub, NED	A Beenken
2017	A K Thiele	Sport-Club Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur, Leipzig, GER	V L Thornley
2018	Jeannine Gmelien	Switzerland	Madeleine Edmunds
2019	Emma Twigg	Hawkes Bay, RC	L.I. Scheenaard

[3] [4]

References

1. "History". Henley Women's Regatta. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
2. "Trophies". Retrieved 2014-06-26.
3. "Henley Royal Regatta Results of Final Races 1946-2013". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
4. Henley Royal Regatta - Results