JERSEY rowing star Natacha Searson won the aspirational double event at Henley Women’s Regatta last weekend.
Partnered with Natasha Phillips and representing St Andrews University Boat Club, the pair fought off competition from the Netherlands and Oxford university, including 42 other doubles to win the Rosie Mayglothing Trophy.
The Henley Regatta, known these days as The Henley Royal Regatta, is a historic event raced along the river Thames dating back to the first event in 1839.
However, the first Women’s event was only introduced in 1988 – Chris Aistrop and the aforementioned Rosemary Mayglothing jointly responsible.
As of 2026, the Henley Royal Regatta now offers 14 Women’s events and the Henley Women’s Regatta continues to expand.
Searson, who has represented Great Britain at the Beach Sprints World Championships three times, was thrilled with the result.
Usually found in a different style of boat, the medical student explained: “My usual discipline of rowing is beach sprints, where we use completely different boats.
“At the weekend we raced in a 27kg much narrower boat, as opposed to the usual coastal double weighing 65kg and giving much more stability.”
The 1500m course was different for Searson, who is generally more familiar with the shorter distance of coastal rowing.
Coastal Rowing traditionally features a 40m run in and out of the sea and a 500m row – which will be seen for the first time in the Olympics in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Back in the lighter, slimmer boat, Searson and Phillips combined superbly.
They won the 1400m Time Trial by ten seconds, in 5mins 29secs, then continued to show dominance winning their quarter final by four boat lengths – a wide margin in rowing parlance.
They came into the semi final only 1.5secs faster in the previous round (5:31.2) than their opposition from Oxford university (5:32.7).
However, the pair dug deep and fended off their Oxford rivals to win by two and a half boat lengths.
With the final looming, Searson and Phillips were faced with a Dutch double from ARSR Skadi, Rotterdam.
The St Andrews combo lead from the start though, appearing to hover above the water like a dragonfly in full tilt – crossing the finish line for victory between the Henley Booms.
In an ecstatic tone, Searson added: “We were really pleased with the result since it was the second time we’d raced together. The first being at the Scottish Rowing Championships earlier this month where we came away with a silver in the championship double and a gold in the championship quad.
“It was great racing experience and I’m excited to apply everything I’ve learnt back to more Beach Sprint racing.”
