HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England — The Cornell men's lightweight rowing team saw both of its entries for the 2024 Henley Royal Regatta qualify for next week's heats on the River Thames on Friday afternoon.

Cornell had entries entered into the Prince Albert and Temple Challenge Cups, where both crews qualified to participate in next week's prestigious regatta, which has been held annually since 1839. The Big Red was one of 16 crews to qualify for the Temple Challenge Cup, an eight-member crew plus coxswain event, and one of four crews to qualify for the Prince Albert Challenge Cup, a four-member crew plus coxswain.

In total, there are scheduled to be 32 crews competing for the Temple Challenge Cup and 12 entries for the Prince Albert Challenge Cup.

Results and times of the qualifying races were not provided by the Henley Royal Regatta.

The draw for next week's events will be determined on Saturday at noon CET (7 a.m. ET) at Henley Town Hall. Tuesday, July 2, will be the opening day of the six-day regatta and each day's races will be available to watch for free on the Henley Royal Regatta's YouTube page.

This year's Henley Royal Regatta featured 772 entries, the most ever in the 185 years that the event has been held. The previous record of 739 entries was set just two years ago. A total of 27 nations are registered for this year's regatta, also the most ever in the event's history. Of the 772 entries, 554 are English-based crews while the remaining 218 are deemed "international," marking the first time ever 200-plus international crews have been entered.

Cornell is one of five Division I programs to be sending crews to Henley and participate in the Temple Challenge Cup, joined by Harvard, La Salle, Orange Coast College, and an pair of Princeton crews. Along with Harvard and La Salle, Cornell will be one of three American-based crews competing for the Prince Albert Challenge Cup.

A total of 409 races will take place during the six-day regatta, which will be 15 more races than last year's event.

"What a summer of rowing we have in store. I am delighted to see record entry numbers at this year's Henley Royal Regatta, which is set to have a real blend of youth and experience amongst the crews," said Sir Steve Redgrave, Chair of the Committee of Management for Henley Royal Regatta. "Establishing pathways from junior levels to the elite squads, and keeping our athletes in the sport is always something I have been passionate about, which is why I'm so pleased to see such a breadth of entries this year."

CORNELL LIGHTWEIGHT ROWING AT HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

Year	Breakdown
1949	Despite winning the American lightweight championship and defeating Princeton twice during the season, Cornell was refused entry into the Royal Henley Regatta's Thames Cup race because its entry form was received one day late.
1961	The Big Red makes its first Henley appearance for a lightweight crew when it competes for the Thames Cup on July 5-8, 1961. In the opening round, Cornell defeats the Tideway Scullers School of London, one of the best British crews at the event. In the second round, the Big Red falls to Eliot House of Harvard, a crew that outweighs Cornell by eight pounds per man.
1963	In the trial heats of the Henley, Cornell goes 2-1, defeating Queen's University of Belfast and the Kingston Rowing Club before falling in the third heat to Queen's College of Cambridge.
1965	The Big Red goes 3-1 in the trial heats of the Henley, defeating the Thames Rowing Club, Northeastern University and the Derby Rowing Club of England before losing to the Nottingham Britannia Club of England in the semifinals.
1967	Cornell wins the Thames Challenge Cup by defeating Nottingham Union Rowing Club in the finals. Along the way, the Big Red defeats the Kingston Rowing Club, Durham University, Crowland Rowing Club and the Molesey Boat Club.
1968	The Big Red makes it back to the finals of the Thames Challenge Cup by defeating Harvard, the Quintin Boat Club and the Siochana Boat Club of Ireland. In the final race, Cornell loses the Leander Boat Club.
1992	For the first time in nearly a quarter century, the Big Red returns to the Henley and makes its final appearance in the Thames Challenge Cup. Cornell receives a bye in the first round before defeating the Thames Rowing Club and the Rob Roy Rowing Club. Unfortunately, the Big Red falls in the quarterfinals to the Upper Thames Rowing Club.
2005	Cornell defeats the University College of Dublin by 1¾ lengths before beating Abingdon School of England by one length in the first round. The Big Red sees its quest for the Temple Challenge Cup come to an end when it falls to Oxford Brookes in the quarterfinals.
2006	The Big Red defeats Pembrok and Christ Church of Oxford in the first round and advances to the round of 16 by beating the Imperial College of London. Cornell advances to the finals by beating Cal, but for the second year in a row, it falls to Oxford Brookes.
2007	For the second straight year, the Big Red places second at the Henley, falling to Cal in the final race of the Temple Challenge Cup. Cornell earns the trip to the finals by defeating Durham University, Bath University, University of Bristol and Colgate.
2008	The Big Red defeats D.S.R. Proteus-Eretes and the Imperial College of London in the opening rounds of the Temple Challenge Cup before falling to an impressive Stanford freshman heavyweight crew in the semifinals.
2014	At the 175th Henley Royal Regatta, Cornell easily won its first three races before falling to Oxford Brookes by a half-length in the Temple Challenge Cup semifinal race.
2015	The Big Red saw its season come to an end in the semifinal race of the Temple Challenge Cup, as it fell to an extremely talented A.S.R. Nereus crew that set a new course record in the previous day's quarterfinals. In the opening round, Cornell defeated the Oxford Brookes B crew. The following day, the Big Red defeated Trinity College Dublin by two-thirds length, and then defeated the  University of London A crew by two-thirds length in the qaurterfinals.
2016	The lightweight eight earned a victory in the opening round of the Temple Challenge Cup at the 177th edition of the Henley Royal Regatta by defeating the Oxford Brookes C boat by nearly 3/4-length, before falling to the University of London A.
2017	Cornell's lightweight crew defeated Exeter University in the opening heat of the Temple Challenge Cup before going on to defeat the University of London's 'B' crew in the second round and falling to the University of London's 'A' crew in the quarterfinals. The Big Red's lightweight developmental boat fell to one of the favorites, A.S.R. Nereus (Netherlands) in the opening heat.
2019	Racing in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup, the Cornell men's lightweight crew fell to the Harvard heavyweight crew in the qualifying round.

CREWS TO QUALIFY FOR HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

Temple Challenge Cup (8+)

Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus 'B', Netherlands

Bedford School 'A'

Cornell University, U.S.A.

Delftsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Laga 'B', Netherlands

Durham University 'B'

Edinburgh University 'B'

Exeter University 'A'

Hampton School 'A'

Imperial College London 'A'

Oxford Brookes University 'C'

Oxford Brookes University 'D'

Southampton University 'A'

St. Edward's School 'A'

St. Paul's School

University of Birmingham

University of Bristol 'A'

Prince Albert Challenge Cup (4+)

Cornell University, U.S.A.

Edinburgh University 'B'

Oxford Brookes University 'B'

University of London 'B'