About HWR
Ambassadors
The HWR Ambassadors provide inspiration and motivation for our competitors and help to showcase the thrill and excitement of racing at Henley Women’s Regatta with our sponsors and supporters. They have all won at HWR and gone on to achieve success internationally.
Competitors will be able to meet many of these role models each year on the river bank at at the regatta, at the International Crew Reception, and at the Prizegiving.
Sue Appelboom
Sue raced and won her first HWR in the lightweight single sculls in 1990. An invitation to trial for the GB team followed and HWR proved to be an important stepping stone to representing GB at three World Championships.
From 1990-1999 Sue won the lightweight single sculls at HWR an unprecedented 10 consecutive times. She also won a silver medal in the 1994 Commonwealth Regatta and won the Scullers’ Head in 1999 and 2001.
A proud member of Mortlake Anglian & Alpha BC, Sue is quick to acknowledge the role of her coach, Tony James, in her success. “HWR always meant a lot to me and I am very proud to be an ambassador” she says. “It’s a very special event on an historic course and I am so pleased to see the regatta going from strength to strength.”
HWR wins
1990-1999: Lightweight 1x
2000: Open 2x
HWR Wins
2018: Aspirational academic 8+ (Oxford Brookes)
2021: Championship 8+ (Oxford Brookes)
Esme Booth OLY
Esme first got into rowing after her name was pulled out of a hat at primary school to give it a go – a lucky draw that led to her very first competition. From then on she was hooked and soon joined Stratford-upon-Avon Boat Club where she learned to row properly. She later rowed for King Edward VI School in Stratford where she did sixth form.
She went on to study Physiotherapy at Oxford Brookes University, where the rowing stepped up a notch. While at Brookes, she represented GB for the first time at the U23 World Championships in 2019, and made the move to the senior GB team in 2021. Three years on, she was at Paris 2024 – and winning a silver medal in the Women’s Four.
Henley Women’s Regatta has been a constant along the way. She first raced there as a sixth former, and has competed ever since, all the way through university. It’s one of her favourite events – not just for the racing, but for the atmosphere and the chance to meet other rowers, many of whom became teammates.
Debbie Bruwer (née Flood) OLY
Debbie switched sports from judo to rowing in the summer of 1997 and started learn-to-row courses at Tideway Scullers and Eton College.
She first competed at HWR in 1998, winning elite single sculls for Tideway Scullers. Debbie went on to claim further HWR wins in the single as well as in elite doubles and quads over an 18 year span.
Debbie was in the GB team for 15 years through juniors, U23s and seniors, winning five gold and one bronze World Championship medals as well Olympic silvers in the quad at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
In 2012 Debbie became the first female captain of Leander Club in its 200-year history and is a steward of Henley Royal Regatta.
She says: “HWR in my first year of rowing was the most incredible experience – racing so close to a fantastic crowd and the atmosphere was like nothing I had ever experienced. It has been an absolute joy watching HWR grow over these last 25 years both as a rower, spectator, then prizegiver for the event. It is my pleasure to be an ambassador for HWR to encourage females in their aspirations in our wonderful sport of rowing.” Debbie continues to be involved in rowing through mentoring with charity Christians in Sport.
HWR wins
1998: Open 1x (TSS)
2000: Open 1x (TSS)
2009: Elite 2x (Leander)
2013: Elite 1x (Leander)
2016: Elite 4x (Leander)
Ellen Buttrick MBE, PLY
Ellen began rowing at age 17 at Leeds Rowing Club. She continued rowing whilst studying geography at Northumbria University and in 2014 when diagnosed with a visual impairment decided to focus on gaining selection to represent GB at a Paralympic Games. Since joining the GB rowing team in 2018 she has become a multiple world and European champion. In 2021 at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games she won gold in the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four, and in 2022 was awarded a MBE for services to rowing.
Ellen returned to racing post-Tokyo in a championship pair at HWR 2023 and was later selected to represent GB in the PR3 Women’s Pair at the 2023 World Rowing Championships.
Emily Craig MBE, OLY
Emily started rowing aged 12 at Bewl Bridge RC. She first competed at HWR in 2010 in junior double sculls, following this up in 2011 with a win in lightweight double sculls with Fran Rawlins. This was a major turning point for Emily as it was her first race as a lightweight coupled with success on national stage.
2013 saw her winning both of the top quadruple sculls events (open and lightweight), followed in 2015 with victory in lightweight double sculls with Ruth Walzack.
That year she was selected to represent GB at her first senior World Championships, where she won silver. She went on to claim three World titles.
After finishing an agonising fourth at Tokyo 2020, just 0.5 seconds off gold, she and Imogen Grant were never beaten again. they won a wonderful gold at Paris 2024, and with the removal of lightweight events from the Olympic programme, will be lightweight women’s double sculls Olympic champions for ever.
HWR wins
2011: Senior lwt 2x (Bewl Bridge composite)
2013: (Elite 4x and elite lwt 4x (UL composite)
2015: Elite lwt 2x (UL composite)
Jess Eddie OLY
Jess is a role model to young rowers, having been part of the history-making women’s eight that won silver at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Team GB’s first ever medal in the event), as well as gold at the European Championships the same year.
Jess first represented Team GB in the Women’s Quad at the World Junior Championships in 2001 aged 17. She is a double world medallist at both under-23 and senior level.
Jess is currently a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta and continues to support the sport through broadcasting and roles within several rowing events, including the Chair of Women’s Eights Head of the River Race.
Dame Katherine Grainger OLY
Chair of the British Olympic Association
Katherine won Elite Pairs the first time she raced at Henley Women’s Regatta, retaining her title the next year when she was first selected to represent GB at the World Rowing Championships. This was the start of her phenomenal international rowing career, which saw her become the first British woman to win medals at five successive Olympic Games in any sport. She won gold at London 2012 alongside Anna Watkins in the women’s double sculls, and silver medals at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016.
She is a steward of Henley Royal Regatta, Chancellor of the University of Glasgow and has a range of broadcasting roles. Katherine was appointed for a second term as chair of UK Sport in 2021 and in 2024 she became the first female chair of the British Olympic Association.
HWR wins
1996: Elite 2- (Edinburgh University)
1997: Elite 2- (Edinburgh University composite)
HWR wins
2016: Elite lwt 2- (CUWBC)
2017: Elite lwt 2x (CUWBC composite)
2025: Championship 1x
Imogen Grant MBE, OLY
Imogen learned to row at Cambridge University before joining the GB Rowing Team. She has won three Boat Races and two World and European Championships. At Paris 2024 she won Olympic gold in the lightweight women’s double sculls with Emily Craig.
HWR has provided Imogen with quality competition including wins in lightweight pairs in 2016, lightweight double sculls in 2017, and reaching the semi-finals of championship single sculls in 2018. We were delighted that she returned to race at HWR in 2025 following her Olympic triumph.
Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne OLY
Mathilda learnt to row at Hereford RC before moving to Gloucester Hartpury with whom she won junior quads at HWR in 2013 and then elite quads in 2014 in the GB Under 23 crew. She was selected for British Rowing’s World Class Start programme at Reading Univeristy, where she won elite doubles in 2015, again in a GB under 23 crew.
After making her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 Games, where her quad finished seventh overall, and then having her son in 2022, Mathilda decided she didn’t want to end her rowing career with memories of the disappointment of Tokyo. She and Becky Wilde came together for the 2024 season, qualified the women’s double sculls for Paris 2024, and went on to win a wonderful bronze medal at the Olympic Rowing Regatta.
HWR wins
2013: Jun 4x (Gloucester Hartpury)
2014: Elite 4x (Gloucester Hartpury in GB composite)
2015: Elite 2x (Reading University in GB composite)
HWR wins
2025: Championship 8+ (Leander Club)
Erin Kennedy OBE, PLY
Erin is a coxswain with the GB rowing team and is a two-time Paralympic, three-time world and four-time European champion and world best time holder, all with the PR3 mixed coxed four. Erin began rowing at Oxford University. Her first ever domestic race outside Oxford was HWR in 2013, and she went on to cox the dark blues to victory in women’s Boat Race in 2014, .
Just eight months after winning gold in Tokyo, Erin was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump whilst on training camp. She was just 29 when diagnosed and was determined not to let it end her career. She managed to continue to train and compete whilst undergoing treatment whilst raising awareness of early detection. Erin returned to the international stage following 15 rounds of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, and won the European championships in 2023, exactly a year following diagnosis.
She is passionate about encouraging women to be active and take part in sport and is also a mentor with WOX, helping to develop the next generation of coxswains. Erin is delighted to be an ambassador and believes the combination of a unique community atmosphere combined with a ferocity of racing makes HWR an incredibly special regatta.
Jess Leyden
Jess was initially interested in equestrian sports but had an accident which left her unable to fully straighten her right arm. Her PE teacher introduced her to the British Rowing Project Oarsome junior programme, launched by Sir Steve Redgrave and funded by Sport England, when she was 13, and she won her first race at the Agecroft Head of the River.
Jess became the first GB woman to win an international single sculls title when she took gold at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2013.
In 2017, she had her first senior championships podiums, winning bronze medals at both the European and World Championships after a season disrupted by injury. In 2018 her quad was fifth at the World Championships, and in 2019 they were fifth at the European Championships and sixth in the world. In 2022 Jess was back in the women’s quad, finishing fourth at World Cup I. They then took silver at World Cup III and a fantastic gold at the European Rowing Championships.
Jess now regularly supports HWR with roles in race commentary.
HWR wins
2011: Senior 4x (Hollingworth Lake)
2014: Elite 1x (Hollingworth Lake)
HWR wins
1990: Open 8+ (Thames in GB composite)
1991: Open 2- (Thames in GB composite)
Miriam Luke MBE, OLY
Miriam began rowing at Southampton University before joining Thames RC, Upper Thames RC and Henley RC.
She competed at the first Henley Women’s Regatta in 1988, and achieved her first win at the regatta in 1990, stroking the GB eight. Later that year she gained her first GB cap, racing in the women’s coxless four at the World Championships.
Racing in a pair with Fiona Freckleton, Miriam went on to win the first GB women’s World Championships sweep medal in 1991, this was the first of many world medals. She crowned her international rowing career with Olympic silver at Sydney 2000, stroking the quad in an incredibly close race alongside sister Guin, Katherine Grainger and Gillian Lindsay. This was the first Olympic rowing medal for GB women and Miriam and her crew inspired a future generation of British women to succeed at Olympic level.
Miriam is currently president and a junior coach of Henley RC, and was chair of Henley Women’s Regatta until 2021. She was awarded an MBE for services to rowing in 2024.
Alison Mowbray OLY
Alison Mowbray is a two-time HWR medallist, winning Elite eights with Bedford RC in 1992 and Open Single Sculls as Cambridge Univeristy in 1996.
She then went on to represent Great Britain at five World Championships as well as the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games, competing in the single in Sydney and winning silver in the quadruple sculls alongside Rebecca Romero, Frances Houghton and Debbie Flood in Athens.
Alison has remained a big supporter of HWR, volunteering with the on-course commentary team nearly every year since her retirement 20 years ago, as well as presenting prizes and announcing winners. “Women’s Henley holds a very special place in my heart. Winning the single was a huge confidence boost at a time when I was just training on my own at Cambridge. Next to my Olympic medal it’s probably my favourite and most memorable win,” Alison says.
HWR wins
1993: Elite 8+ (Bedford RC)
1996: Open 1x (CUWBC)
Grace Prendergast
New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to Rowing
Grace Prendergast joined the HWR ambassadors in 2024, after presenting the prizes and commentating at the regatta in 2023.
Grace hails from Christchurch, New Zealand. She progressed from netball to rowing at Villa Maria College, before joining Avon RC. Grace is a five-time world champion, with medals across the women’s pair, four and eight, and is the current holder of the world best time in both the pair and the four.
At Tokyo 2020, Grace became Olympic champion for New Zealand in the women’s pair and stepped in to the seven seat to win silver in the women’s eight.
She has also won three Henley Royal Regatta medals, and the Boat Race for Cambridge University in 2012. retired from rowing in 2022. Grace is passionate about women’s rowing and enjoys the excitement of side-by-side racing and the amazing Henley Women’s atmosphere.
Sam Redgrave OLY
Sam discovered rowing at the University of East Anglia and joined Norwich RC while working at Norwich Hospital. Her debut at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2016 marked a historic moment for the club, being only the second time Norwich raced an eight at the regatta.
In 2019, Sam was selected for the GB Development Squad with whom she won championship eights at HWR. She moved to Henley that summer, joining Leander Club.
Sam’s rowing career flourished, and she earned multiple European and World Cup titles and won the 2022 World Championships in the coxless four. Despite battling injuries, her journey culminated in an Olympic silver medal at Paris 2024, again in the coxless four.
Some of Sam’s fondest rowing memories are tied to local regattas and HWR. She is excited to share her passion for a competitionthat has helped many GB rowers and provided women with greater opportunities to compete at the highest level.
HWR wins
2019: Championship 8+ (Norwich in GB composite)
Naomi Riches MBE, PLY
Naomi’s first HWR experience was as a spectator. She then raced HWR qualifiers for Marlow RC in 2006. Living with a visual condition, achromatopsia, Naomi became part of the adaptive rowing team for Great Britain and won six world titles and two Paralympic medals in 2008 and 2012 in the coxed four. Since retiring from rowing Naomi set a Guinness World Record as the first woman to row the length of the river Thames in under 48 hours.
Naomi was Chair of HWR from 2022-2023. When she took on the role she said, “HWR is just such a supportive environment, so well run by incredible volunteers doing it purely for the love of the sport. HWR stands on our own, we stand out as an unique and hugely positive experience.”
Zoe de Toledo OLY
Zoe is a former GB Rowing Team cox who won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, guiding the senior women’s eight to their first ever Olympic medal.
She also coxed the eight when they won gold at the 2016 European Rowing Championships and the Oxford eight at the 2012 Boat Race.
Zoe has been part of the commentary team at Henley Women’s Regatta and presented prizes to the winning crews in 2018. Zoe has started a coxing community The Winning Cox (WOX), providing discussion, mentoring and educative resources, alongside fellow HWR ambassador Erin Kennedy.
HWR wins
2011: Elite 8+ (Leander in GB composite)
HWR wins
2008: Elite lwt 1x (Clyde)
Imogen Walsh
Imogen Walsh is one of GB’s most successful lightweight oarswomen. A former cox turned rower, Imogen has five World Championship medals to her name from all three sculling events.
She learnt to row at Glasgow University BC. She has been a member of Inverness RC, Clyde RC and London RC. Despite failing to qualify for side-by-side racing in her first HWR, in her second year of university, she instantly loved the event. Her favourite HWR memory is acting as a guide sculler for a partially sighted competitor.
Imogen says, “HWR was a starting point for me, in broadening my horizons of competition. Now as a Henley resident, I love seeing the town fill up with competitors, knowing the excitement and anticipation they are feeling (as I did), and wondering what memories they will take from their experience.”
Becky Wilde OLY
Becky started rowing at the University of Bath as part of British Rowing’s World Class Start Programme.
After first racing at Henley Women’s was in 2018, she had a three year hiatus from the regatta due to injury and the pandemic, returning in 2021 to win the championship doubles. A year later she won the George Innes Cup for championship singles, and in 2023 completed the sculling treble winning the championship quads.
One year on, Becky was standing on the Olympic podium following an incredible debut season on the senior GB Rowing Team. Having recovered from forearm surgery in the autumn, she and doubles partner Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne then had to earn the right to race in Paris via the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. They entered the Games as the last ranked boat and finished it with a wonderful bronze medal.
HWR wins
2021: Championship 2x (Bath University)
2022: Championship 1x (Bath University)
2023: Championship 4x (Leander)
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