Thames wins Remenham Challenge Victor Ludorum

The annual Remenham Challenge between the seven founding Remenham clubs took place on Saturday 14 December, with Thames winning the Victor Ludorum outright this year after sharing it in 2023.

The women’s squad had a particularly good day out on the river, finishing first, second and third in women’s championship 8s. Thames also won women’s club eights, with the victorious crew the fourth-fastest women’s crew overall; and women’s masters eights, fielding a crew of recently retired squad rowers.

The men’s squad missed out on wins but contributed to the Victor Ludorum too with a set of solid performances. The top championship eight missed out on the headship by 1.43 seconds to perennial rivals London RC, but the second eight beat London’s second eight into fourth place overall by a similar 1.3 second margin.

The men’s club eight were third in a closely contested category behind Molesey and London, and six men’s squad crews finished in the top 10 overall. The men’s masters A crew were the fastest masters crew of the day, although they lost the pennant win to a masters E crew from Molesey on adjusted time.

Thames also fielded crews in men’s masters E 8+, women’s masters C 8+, and men’s masters A and H 4x, meaning in total 19 crews and 161 athletes raced down the track in Thames colours - a superb turnout that bodes well for the season ahead.