“I’d love for someone to feel inspired.” Esme Booth talks Henley Women’s Regatta

Ahead of HWR, Fergus Mainland caught up with Olympic silver medallist and HWR ambassador Esme Boothe

For rowers, this is a special time of year. From every corner of the world, pilgrims are set to make their journey to the hallowed waters of Henley on Thames and the town is about to become densely populated with athletes adorn in flip flops and funky tan lines.

The first-time racing between the booms is a magical experience, one which paints a picture that is etched in your mind for years and years to come. For Esme Booth, Henley Women’s has always been one of the great spectacles of the rowing calendar.

Before winning a silver medal in the Women’s Four at last summer’s Olympics, Esme learned to row at King Edward VI School and Stratford upon Avon BC. Her journey to Vaires-sur-Marne, interwoven with experiences at Henley Women’s, is a tale that Shakespeare himself would have been proud to conjure up.

“I hope that people who go down and hear some stories from the ambassadors think that ‘if they can do it then so can I if I put the part work in.'”

“My first time [racing Henley Women’s Regatta] was in the single at school,” said the 2024 European Champion.

“I definitely didn’t expect it to be as big and as cool as it was having come from smaller, regional events in the West Midlands. Then you get to Henley and you’re boating and Sir Matthew Pinsent walks past!

“All these rowing people are just around the course and my eyes were wide open looking up and down the river banks, absolutely not focussing on the job at hand! It didn’t go terribly well but I had an amazing experience turning up, even seeing Temple Island for the first time having never been to Henley before.

“You always hear stories and see pictures but you’ve never actually seen it in the full so I was head way out of the boat, looking at everything going past not focusing on the race but I remember it being a great time,” said Esme.

For Esme and many others, HWR can be the first taste of elite racing at a prestigious event. However, it’s a constant pinnacle throughout everyone’s rowing journey through university and into later life.

In her first year at Oxford Brookes University, Esme raced and won Aspirational Academic Eights. Throughout the season and in the final weeks leading up to racing, selection had been fierce, but there’s nothing like crossing the finish line and winning with some of your closest friends. In recent years, on that journey to Paris, Esme made history with Emily Ford. the two athletes became the first British women to qualify two boats for an Olympic Games at the same regatta ensuring both the women’s pair and women’s eight were on the start line for Great Britain at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Now as an ambassador for the event, Esme is keen to connect with junior athletes and show them what is possible through all sports, not just rowing. Across the weekend, the ambassadors provide motivation for our competitors and help to showcase the thrill and excitement of racing at Henley Women’s Regatta with 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.

“I feel like sometimes this sounds a bit big-headed but I’d love for someone to feel inspired. Life’s not always been with me, there have been things that have happened and whatnot and I never thought I could be an Olympian, like me, me from my house. That would be crazy.

“My parents aren’t sporty or Olympians or anything like that and in my mind, being an Olympian was always this thing that’s not for everybody. I thought ‘Maybe you’re born into it or whatever it is’, but I put these barriers up and thought that it isn’t for just anybody. I hope that people who go down and hear some stories from the ambassadors think that ‘if they can do it then so can I if I put the part work in.’

“I hope that people who race over the weekend get that opportunity to meet someone, chat with someone and think that they can do it too. I hope I inspire someone on their rowing journey to keep pushing and keep going and hopefully get somewhere with their rowing or any sport for that matter. I’m not necessarily tied to rowing I just want people to get out and be active and do their thing.

Esme’s advice to this year’s competitors?

“Take it all in, see what’s going on around you and see who you pass by. Have a really good race, get your head in the boat and race hard but take a moment to see what else is going on. Appreciate how big the rowing community is and how impressive the women’s aspect of that is and how cool it is to be a part of that.”

Henley Women’s Regatta takes place 20-22 June and you can follow all the action here.