Entries

Thames Ditton Regatta is held under the Rules of British Rowing. The next edition is on Saturday, 17 May 2025.

The regatta conforms to British Rowing’s ‘Row Safe: A Guide to Good Practice in Rowing’. This can be found in the British Rowing Almanack and is also available on British Rowing’s web site.

All races are upstream over a distance of approximately 900 metres with a free start. The course starts just above the downstream end of Thames Ditton Island and finishes just before the River Mole. The course will be buoyed to separate it from the marshaling lane, but there are no buoys between the racing stations.

Click here to download the event poster (the remainder of this page).

Events

Morning (from 8.30am)

Afternoon (from approx. 1.30pm)
Category Open Women Open Women
Senior1  4x, 4+ Challenge8s2, 2x Challenge8s2, 2x  4x, 4+
J15  4x+3 8+ (1st), 8+ (2nd)4, 4+, 2x3 8+ (1st), 8+ (2nd)4, 4+, 2x3 4x+3
J14 8x+3, 2x 4x+3 4x+3 8x+3, 2x
J13 4x+ 4x+
  1. Designed for J16s, Seniors and Masters. J16s and Masters should note that the standard of Senior entries is usually on a par with J16 and competent Masters crews.
  2. Challenge8s: Get race experience, early in the season! All crews are guaranteed to get at least 2 races. Read the Challenge8s event page for full details.
  3. These are popular events so you will be required to choose whether you would prefer the crew to race in the Top (fastest) or General Classification band, if more than 8 entries are received. Here are some guidelines for what to enter:
    • If you are entering more than one crew in an event and they’re (at least roughly) selected, at least 1 should be in Top.
    • If it’s an oct that will be racing in 1st crews at National Schools, it should be in Top UNLESS it is not expected to come in the top half of the time trial AND it’s the only oct you’re entering in that event at TDR.
    • Any crew in which half or more of the scullers came in the top half of an event at the Junior Sculling Head or ARE OF THAT STANDARD should be in Top.
    • If you have 2 matched crews, it can be acceptable to put them all in General Classification subject to the guideline above. If you have 3+ crews, at least 1 should be in Top.
    • If you have only 1 crew, it can go in either, depending on its speed: we are relying on coaches’ integrity and expect that notably quick crews (e.g. those expected to finish in the top half of the Time Trial at National Schools) are not put into GC for an ‘easy’ win.
      We reserve the right to move any crew entered in General Classification to Top. For advice, contact info@thamesdittonregatta.co.uk.
  4. Must be genuine 2nd crews. If fewer than 4 entries are received in either J15 (1st) 8+ or J15 2nd 8+ (open or women), the two events will be combined and where possible the 2nd crews will race each other in the first round.

General notes about events

  • Events will only run if a minimum of 4 entries are received. This helps ensure events remain viable if there are scratchings.
  • All senior events with more than 8 entries will be divided into bands of 4-8 crews after the close of entries by CRI. Entries in senior events may not be accepted from crews with considerably above-average CRI.
  • Doubling up within a division (morning or afternoon) is not allowed for rowers, coxes, boats or blades.
  • Plate events will be run for J14 octs and quads where possible.
  • From 2024 we no longer offer 1x events so that more people can race at this over-subscribed regatta.

Other important information about Entries

  • Entries will open on Monday, 14 April 2025.
  • ENTRIES CLOSE at 9am on SATURDAY, 10 May 2025, but are likely to be suspended before that (2 weeks before that, usually) once the regatta is full.
  • All placeholders must be filled by 9am on Saturday, 10 May 2025.
  • You can contact the Hon Entries Secretary, Helena Smalman-Smith, at info@thamesdittonregatta.co.uk or on 07765 237166, ideally not during working hours
  • In the event of the regatta being over-subscribed, your entry may be rejected. The Acceptance Process is set out below.
  • We aim to start racing 8.30am, and finish before 6pm.
  • Please ensure that your BROE2 details include a contact phone number that will be answered on Saturday, 10 May 2025, in case we need to contact you about your entries. A school switchboard number is not appropriate.
  • Entries cost £20 per rowing seat (£160 for Eights/Octs, £80 for Fours/Quads, £40 for Doubles).
  • Entry fees are due for any scratchings made after the close of entries (as further entries cannot be accepted instead after this point).
  • Please pay your entry fees at any time (note this is a change to the past years) by:
    BROE2 – we like this a lot.
    Direct transfer – we like this too. Email info@thamesdittonregatta.co.uk for our bank details or if you need to be invoiced.
    Under no circumstances will the timetable be changed after the draw (unless it’s our mistake).
  • If the regatta has to be cancelled, we reserve the right to retain part of the entry fee to cover meet unrecoverable costs.

Acceptance process if the regatta is oversubscribed

This process is based on the following principles:

  1. The purpose of a regatta is to enable crews from different clubs to race each other, at least in the first round.
  2. If the regatta is over-subscribed, it is better to enable a smaller number of clubs to have all the entries they want rather than more clubs with only part of their desired entry. This is for the following reasons:
    1. Splitting a squad creates staffing issues for athletes who remain at home
    2. Requiring some athletes not to double means that junior competitors may be hanging around for half the day with no racing – coaches have advised us that this is undesirable.

We prioritise clubs as follows:

Priority 1: Clubs based on the stretch where the regatta takes place and any other clubs who provide umpire launches without which the regatta would not happen.
Priority 2: Other clubs who regularly attend TDR with precedence given to those who entered the regatta 3, followed by 2, and then 1 times in the last 3 years last years for which it opened for entries (irrespective of whether it ran or not).
Priority 3: All other clubs.

Entries will be opened on the Monday morning just under 5 weeks before the regatta. They will be suspended for new entries after all Priority 1 club entries have been received and, if has not already reached the cutoff points below, whichever is the latest of:

  • The following Sunday (6 days later) at 2pm (i.e. you will always have just over 6 days to get your entries in).
  • When the regatta is over-subscribed by about 10 races in viable events (to allow for withdrawals before the Official Close of entries).

We expect accept crews as follows, subject to review of the actual entries received by the Entries Secretary and Race Committee Chair:

  1. Crews in events other than Challenge8s with fewer than 4 entries (that will therefore not run) will be offered the chance to move to a different event if there is a suitable one. If they decide not to change event or there is no suitable event, they will be rejected.
  2. If entries from a single club make up more than half of the crews in an event (particularly if there are 4 crews in total), we may ask the club to prioritise its entries and they will be reduced on that basis to half or fewer. This is driven by Principle 1. We reserve the right to make an exception to this for Priority 1 clubs (if they want), and J15 2nd eights, J15 4+ and J13 4x+ as there are fewer other opportunities for these crews to race. If this step makes the event ‘unviable’ as fewer than 4 entries remain, step 1 will be invoked.
  3. Crews from Priority 3 clubs, subject to this rendering any event unviable.
  4. Crews from Priority 2 clubs who have only raced at TDR once in the past 3 years. We do not expect to invoke this step.
  5. Crews from Priority 2 clubs who have only raced at TDR twice in the past 3 years. We really don’t expect to invoke this.

Notes:

  • The date/time when you made your entry and payment are NOT criteria for acceptance. All paid-for entries that are rejected will be refunded in full.
  • Until the Official Close of entries, a waiting list will be held after entries have been suspended. Crews will be admitted from this once the number of races has dropped to below 160 due to withdrawals.