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 partners and supporters.
Competitors will be able to meet many of these role models each year on the river bank at the regatta, at the International Crew Reception, and at the Prizegiving.
Sue Appelboom, a proud member of Mortlake Anglian & Alpha BC, 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 (1991, 1995 and 1996).
For an astonishing 10 years from 1990–1999, Sue won the Elite Lightweight Single Sculls at HWR – a record of success that will probably stand for ever. She also won a silver medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Regatta and won the Scullers Head in 1999 and 2001. She 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.”
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 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 Elite Double and Quadruple Sculls over her years in the sport. Debbie was in the GB team for 15 years through juniors, U23s and seniors, winning five golds and a bronze at the World Championships 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. Debbie is also still involved in rowing through mentoring with charity Christians in Sport.
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.”
Ellen began rowing at age 17 at Leeds Rowing Club. She continued 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. She went on to win two World Championship gold medals as well as a European title. At the postponed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games she achieved her dream of becoming Paralympic Champion, 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.
Emily started rowing aged 12 at Bewl Bridge RC. She first competed at HWR in 2010 in the 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 Lightweight and Championship Quadruple Sculls, followed in 2015 with victory in Lightweight Double Sculls with Ruth Walzack.
At international level, she won the first of her three World Championship titles in 2016 and won gold at the European Championships twice before becoming Olympic Champion at Paris 2024 with Imogen Grant. She announced her retirement from international rowing in 2025.
Jess is a role model to young rowers, having been part of the history-making women’s eight which picked up 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.
With Olympic gold from London 2012 alongside Anna Watkins, and silver medals from Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016, Katherine is the first British woman to win medals at five successive Olympic Games. 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.
Imogen learned to row at Cambridge University where she won three Boat Races. 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. The latter clearly provded helped her to hone her racing skills as she went on to win world under 23 gold and senior bronze later that year .
In 2022 and 2023 she won both the European and World Championships, before her dominant victory at Paris 2024 with partner Emily Craig in the last ever Olympic Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls. Imogen is a member of local club Upper Thames, and a a passionate environmental sustainability campaigner.
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 University, where she won elite doubles in 2015, again in a GB under 23 crew.
After making her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where her quad finished seventh overall, and then having her son in 2022, Mathilda decided she did not 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 Vaires-sur-Marne.
Erin is a cox 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. She got into rowing at Oxford where she coxed the women’s Boat Race crew to victory in 2014. Her first ever domestic race outside Oxford was HWR in 2013..
Just eight months after winning gold in Tokyo, Erin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 after finding a lump whilst on training camp. Aged just 29, she was determined not to let it end her career and managed to continue training and competing whilst undergoing treatment alongside raising awareness of the importance 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 after her 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 was originally interested in equestrian sports but had an accident that 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 became hooked after winning 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 World Championships podiums, winning bronze medals at both the European and World Championships after a season disrupted by injury. In 2022 she became European champion in the women’s quadruple sculls and also won bronze again at the World Championships.
Jess has recently supported HWR with roles in race commentary.
Miriam began rowing at Southampton University before joining Thames Rowing Club, Upper Thames and Henley Rowing Club. Miriam was a winner at HWR before selection to the GB Rowing team in 1990. For GB she went on to win multiple World Championship medals and finally an Olympic silver medal in Sydney 2000, stroking the GB Quadruple Sculls crew 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 Rowing Club, and was chair of Henley Women’s Regatta until 2021. She was awarded an MBE for services to rowing in 2024.
Alison Mowbray is a two-time HWR medallist, winning Elite Eights for Bedford RC in 1992 and Open Single Sculls for CUWBC in 1996. She then went on to represent Great Britain at five World Championships and the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games, competing in the Single Sculls in Sydney and taking home silver in the Quadruple Sculls alongside Rebecca Romero, Frances Houghton and Debbie Flood in Athens.
She 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.
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 the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Grace became Olympic Champion for New Zealand in the Women’s Pair and stepped in to the seven seat to win silver in the Kiwi women’s eight. She has also won three Henley Royal Regatta medals, and the Boat Race for Cambridge University in 2022. Grace has masters degrees in business and philosophy. She 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 discovered rowing at the University of East Anglia and joined Norwich Rowing Club 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 2018/2019, 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 career flourished with the GB women’s squad, 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 competition that has helped many GB rowers and provided women with greater opportunities to compete at the highest level.
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. 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 became chair of HWR in 2022, saying: “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.” Naomi is a motivational speaker, facilitator and coach whose passion is to help others maximise their strengths.
Zoe is a former Team GB rowing cox who won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, guiding the 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.
Imogen 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. Imogen learnt to row at Glasgow University BC. She has been a member of Inverness RC, Clyde RC and London RC.
She failed to qualify for side-by-side racing in her first HWR, in her second year of university, but 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 started rowing at the University of Bath as part of British Rowing’s World Class Start Programme.
After first racing at HWR 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, racing for Leander Club, 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. She started the season in hospital following forearm surgery; 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.
