It was a particularly notable occasion for Jack Beaumont, who claimed a fifth successive Henley title when he teamed up with Leander and international colleague Nick Middleton to win the Doubles Sculls Challenge Cup.

“I couldn’t be happier with how that race went,” said Beaumont after Sunday’s four-and-a-half length win over Gasper Fistravec and Dani Fridman in Sunday’s final.

“We knew we would get a run for our money, but we also knew we could win this. We feel great as a pair and I love rowing alongside my teammate Nick.

“We train on this stretch of the river every single day so to win this cup makes the early mornings and tough training sessions worth it.”

Taking the plaudits in the Princess Grace Challenge Cup were the young GB quartet of Melissa Wilson, Jess Leyden, Holly Nixon and Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne.

Racing as Reading RC and Leander Club, the women’s quad held off a determined challenge from AZS Warszawa & Wisca Grudziadz of Poland – the reigning World U23 Champions – to win by one length.

“That was really good,” said Hodgkins-Byrne, who became the first Reading RC member to win at Henley since 1935. “It was my third time at Henley and the previous two visits were quite stressful but I really enjoyed this one.”

The lightweight GB quad of Brianna Stubbs, Emily Craig, Imogen Walsh and Ellie Piggott – racing as Wallingford RC and London RC – were beaten by the Schuylkill Navy High Performance Center from the United States in the heats.

Both GB development eights reached their respective finals, with the men’s crew – racing as Nautilus RC – pushing the Dutch Olympic eight all the way in an excellent Grand Challenge Cup final, only losing by three-quarters of a length.

It proved a tougher task for the women’s eight in the Remenham Challenge Cup final as GB – racing as a Leander and Tees RC composite – were beaten by four and three-quarter lengths by Princeton Training Centre from the US.

Ollie Cook and Callum McBrierty, racing as University of London BC and Leander, were edged out by French pair Benoit Demey and Edouard Jonville in the semi-finals of the Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup.

The Leander Club and Oxford Brookes University composite men’s quad of Zak Lee-Green, Charlie Waite-Roberts, Jamie Copus and Jamie Kirkwood – all GB lightweight internationals – also narrowly missed out on a place in the Queen Mother Challenge Cup final as they were beaten by California RC.

The GB development men’s four of James Johnston, Tom George, James Rudkin and Lewis McCue – racing as Newcastle University and Robert Gordon University – also reached the semi-finals of the Stewards’ Challenge Cup, where they lost by a length to eventual overall winners Hollandia Roeiclub of the Netherlands.

You can watch highlights of the finals day below:

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With Rio firmly on the horizon for the core group of Olympic squad rowers, the next wave will be looking to impress at the third GB Rowing Team assessment of the season.

This weekend’s event in Boston, Lincolnshire, could offer the opportunity to those seeking to gain an invitation to the Olympic trials next month as well as those looking to represent their country on the global stage at the World U23 Championships this summer.

For others in action on the River Witham the goal could be to secure a place at the senior World Championships in the International Classes.

The latter is taking place in a combined event at Rotterdam, The Netherlands, from August 21-28, with the World U23s.

Among those looking to make their mark during Saturday’s 5k time-trial on the River Witham are a number of medallists at U23 and Junior level from 2015.

Chris Lawrie (Molesey BC) stroked the men’s quadruple scull to a historic gold medal at last year’s World Junior Championships in Rio. He will contest the men’s single in Boston, along with Dave Bell, Frazier Christie and George Stewart who all recorded top-ten finishes at the first 5k assessment in November.

In the men’s sweep section, Lewis McCue (Robert Gordon University BC) – a silver-medallist in the men’s four at the World U23s – teams up in the pair with James Rudkin (Newcastle University BC).

Phil Congdon, a 2014 European Championships bronze-medallist with the senior men’s eight, partners Leander Club colleague Timothy Clarke and former GB lightweight rower Chris Boddy is paired with Adam Neill.

Six medallists from the World U23s are among a 50-strong field in the women’s single. Beth Bryan (Tees RC) has won silver and bronze with the women’s eight in the past three years, while GB Rowing Team Start graduate Sam Courty (Reading RC) and Emily Ford (Newcastle University BC) were in the women’s four that won bronze in Plovdiv, Bulgaria last summer.

Nicole Lamb (Newcastle Univ), Katie Bartlett (Nottingham RC) and Annie Withers (Oxford Brookes Uni) were all in the women’s eight that won U23 bronze last year.

Among those contesting the lightweight men’s single scull in Boston is Steven Parsonage (Durham University BC), a graduate of the GB Rowing Team Start Centre in Norwich. He won silver with the lightweight men’s quad at last year’s World U23s and went on to make his senior debut aged 19 at the World Championships in Aiguebelette the following month.

Three members of the lightweight men’s four that won World U23 bronze in 2015 – Ali Douglass (Molesey BC), Ed Fisher and Jonny Jackson (both Leander) – will also be in action.

Ones to watch in the lightweight women’s single include Maddie Arlett (Edinburgh University BC) and Ellie Lewis (Agecroft RC/Manchester University). They were both part of the lightweight women’s quad that finished just outside the medals at the World U23s.

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