After a double hip surgery, Paris 2024 Olympic Champion Tom Digby has begun racing again, securing a coveted Henley Royal Regatta red box on finals day in The Silver Goblets and Nickall's Challenge Cup.
For Thomas Digby, Henley Royal Regatta is home turf. He learned to row on this iconic stretch of the Thames and watching the Regatta every year with his family, he dreamed of one day being able to compete himself.
An incredibly talented junior rower, Tom’s dreams quickly reached beyond his home waters. At 16-years-old Tom won silver at the 2014 World Rowing Junior Championships, consistently representing GB from then on, with four further World podium finishes before he joined the senior squad. In 2019, his Henley dreams were realised with a win in The Visitor’s Challenge Cup, quickly followed by three consecutive wins in The Grand Challenge Cup from 2021 to 2023. In 2024, he became Olympic Champion in the GB men’s eight.
Followers of Tom’s career might be surprised to see his name listed on the racing schedule in the small boats for 2026, instead of reading his club’s name in The Grand Challenge Cup for Premier open eights. But after Paris, Tom took a break from international racing and the national team; a break which included double hip surgery.
“Coming off the back of Paris, I wasn't really sure whether I would or wouldn't continue,” Tom remembers. “I felt like until you cross the finish line, you don't really know how you're going to feel. It took a minute to kind of come down from that, and deal with the loss of my mum and the kind of body that I was battling.”
"Learning to deal with the pressure and learning to build the patience of a smaller boat is something that will stand me in good stead next year.”
Tom sadly lost his mother seven short months before he raced down the Olympic course in Paris. “That weighed so heavily on me, as she was the most central person in my life.” For Tom, it was time for a rest from racing.
“The biggest thing I think in sport is having that fire, that point to prove, a little bit of bite to you. If you don't have that, at least some form of ‘why’, you're really going to struggle in that environment.”
Tom has spent the last two years recovering, starting his own business and finding his ‘why’.
“I'm not as fit as I was, I'm heavier than I was, but the skill is hopefully coming in the right direction. Despite that, I'm still feeling better than ever in the sense that I have a bit of a fire behind me.”
Tom’s first small boat win in the 2026 Silver Goblets and Nickall's Challenge Cup for Premier open pairs alongside partner Jake Wincomb marks his return to racing. For many, a red box and lifting a trophy at Henley Royal Regatta is the end goal, but Tom’s mentality is all about the journey, especially after his surgery.
“I think the semi final for me was the best we'd rowed the boat. It's a cool sensation, my body allowing me to do that. I'm chasing that consistency.”
Tom describes his current position in the GB Rowing Team as the ‘shadow squad’.
“We're the European Rowing Championships spares project for now, hopefully a few of us will be knocking on the door next year. I think any great squad has upward pressure from the bottom, we're part of that this time round.”
Whilst Tom has enjoyed his journey in the pair, his ‘why’ in rowing is firmly rooted in the interpersonal dynamics of a big boat.
“What I really cherish is building these connections with a group of guys, learning how to manage individuals. I always said, it's so much easier to let yourself down than it is than other people down, so I like building those strong bonds in a team. You can do that in a pair, but it's more like a marriage than a team. I might be excited to get into a bigger boat at some point, but the cards will fall when they fall.”
“Rowing's an art form in some ways, a pursuit of excellence, and I felt like despite the result in Paris, there is more to come from me."
Not only that, but the smaller boats come with a level of exposure that’s completely different from eights racing. “You are ‘Jake and Tom’, you aren't the ‘Men's Eight’, you aren't the ‘Men's Four’. But learning to deal with the pressure and learning to build the patience of a smaller boat is something that will stand me in good stead next year.”
More than a stepping stone, Henley Royal Regatta is a true homecoming for Tom, racing on a course he knows so well in front of people he’s known his whole life. Jake is also a local, coming from Maidenhead and racing for Marlow Rowing Club.
“You hear ‘Jake’, you hear ‘Digby’, you hear ‘Tom’, all the way down to the start line, all the way back up again. So it's really awesome to feel that support. It really makes you wanna deliver your best.”
Tom’s fifth win at Henley Royal Regatta is an incredible feat; his dedication to and love for the sport of rowing fits perfectly between the iconic Henley booms.
“Rowing's an art form in some ways, a pursuit of excellence, and I felt like despite the result in Paris, there is more to come from me. So it's about seeing what I can do and that, whatever the results become as part of it, I'm focused on the process. I feel like I'm already really heading in the right direction.”
