Princess Royal Challenge Cup

Princess Royal Challenge Cup
Venue	Henley Royal Regatta, River Thames
Location	Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Dates	1993 – present

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.

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 to 1996 this counted as a round of the FISA World Cup.

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

As Invitation Single Sculls

Invitation Single Sculls (Women's 1x)
Year	Winner	Club	Runner-up	Club
1982	Beryl Mitchell	Thames Tradesmen's	Stephanie Foster	Waiariki Rowing Club, New Zealand

As Princess Royal Challenge Cup

Princess Royal Challenge Cup (Women's Open 1x)
Year	Winner	Club	Runner-up	Club
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	Thames
1998	M H Brandin	Kungalv Roddklubb, Swe	G Douglas	Mercantile Rowing Club
1999	K Rutschow	RC Wannsee Berlin, GER	M H Brandin	Kungalv Roddklubb, Swe
2000	D K Flood	Tideway Scullers School	M H Brandin	Leander Club
2001	E Karsten	Minsk City Club, BLR	K Rutschow-Stomporowski	RaW Berlin e.V
2002	R Neykova	Club Academic, BUL	K Rutschow-Stomporowski	RaW Berlin e.V
2003	C J Oliver	Australian Institute of Sport, AUS	D R Martin	Australia
2004	C S Bishop	Riverside Boat Club, USA	R Geyser	Trident RC, South Africa
2005	R Neykova	Cherno More Club, BUL	F M Milne	Melbourne University, Australia
2006	S Balmary	Club France, FRA	M van Eupen	Netherlands
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	Cambridge Boat Club, USA
2010	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	G L Stone	Cambridge Boat Club, USA
2011	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	G L Stone	Cambridge Boat Club, USA
2012	I Penney	Kingston Rowing Club, CAN	K Pajusalu	Estonia
2013	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	E Twigg	Waiariki Rowing Club
2014	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	K Gyimes	Hungary
2015	M Knapkova	V.K. Slavia Praha, CZE	L I Scheenaard	Hollandia Roeiclub
2016	L I Scheenaard	Hollandia Roeiclub	A Beenken	Ruderverein Saarbrücken e.V
2017	Annekatrin Thiele	SC DHfK Leipzig e.V., Germany	Victoria Thornley	Leander Club
2018	J Gmelin	Switzerland	Madeleine Edmunds	Australia
2019	Emma Twigg	Hawkes Bay, RC	L I Scheenaard	Netherlands
2020	cancelled	due to COVID-19 pandemic