The Temple Challenge Cup is one of the eights races at Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames on the River Thames in England. It is open to male crews from universities, colleges or schools. Combined entries from two colleges of the same university, or from different schools, are allowed. There are restrictions on individual rowers to ensure that the faster crews row in the Ladies' Challenge Plate. A rower cannot take part in this race if he has previously won an event at Henley, except The Thames, The Wyfold, The Britannia, The Prince Albert, The Princess Elizabeth, or The Fawley Challenge Cups. The race is limited to 32 entrants.
History
The event was first staged in 1990, and, after a successful first year, the Regatta Stewards decided to make it a permanent fixture. The cup, awarded to the winning crew on finals day, was made in 1835 by Charles Fox, and has been engraved with a sketch of the Temple on Temple Island at the start of the regatta course.
There was no foreign winner until 1996, when the United States' Yale University won the final. Since 2000, foreign crews have dominated the event winning 14 times in 18 years with 10 of the winners hailing from the United States. Only Oxford Brookes University Boat Club have broken the foreign stranglehold on the trophy, winning the event a record seven times in 2006, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Past winners As Henley Prize YearWinnerRunner-UpRef1990 Imperial College Boat ClubTrinity College Dublin 1991 University of Bristol Boat ClubImperial College Boat Club
As Temple Challenge Cup YearWinnerRunner-UpRef1992 Imperial College Boat ClubTrinity College Dublin 1993 Oxford Brookes University Boat ClubTrinity College Dublin 1994 Imperial College Boat Club Trinity College Dublin 1995 Oxford Brookes University Boat ClubTrinity College Dublin 1996 Yale University, USAImperial College Boat Club 1997 Goldie Boat ClubImperial College Boat Club & King's College, London 1998 Imperial College Boat ClubUniversity of Wales College, Cardiff 1999 Cambridge University Boat ClubImperial College Boat Club 2000 Yale University, USAExeter University 2001 Harvard University Oxford Brookes University Boat Club 2002 Harvard UniversityOxford Brookes University Boat Club 2003 Princeton University "A", USAPrinceton University "B", USA 2004 ASR Nereus, NetherlandsDSR Proteus-Eretes, Netherlands 2005 Trinity College, Hartford, USAYale University, USA 2006 Oxford Brookes University Boat ClubCornell University, USA 2007 University of California, Berkeley, USACornell University, USA 2008 University of Western Ontario, Canada Trinity College, Hartford, USA 2009 Princeton University, USABrown University, USA 2010 University of Washington, USA ASR Nereus, Netherlands 2011 University of California, Berkeley, USA ASR Nereus, Netherlands 2012 University of Washington, USABrown University, USA 2013 DSRV Laga, NetherlandsHarvard University, USA 2014 Oxford Brookes University Boat ClubBrown University, USA 2015 ASR Nereus, NetherlandsUniversite de Lyon BC, France 2016 Oxford Brookes University Boat ClubUniversity of California BC, Berkeley, USA 2017 Oxford Brookes University Boat ClubUniversity of London Boat Club 2018 University of Washington, USAOxford Brookes University Boat Club 2019 Oxford Brookes University Boat ClubNortheastern University BC, USA 2020 No competition due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 ASR Nereus, Netherlands Imperial College Boat Club2022Oxford BrookesUniversity of Washington BC, USA 2023Oxford Brookes Syracuse University BC, USA2024 Oxford Brookes Princeton University 'A', U.S.A.2025 Harvard University Oxford Brookes 2026 Cambridge University Boat Club 'A' University of Washington, USA
References
Historic Henley results