Revelers head home after a drunken night to celebrate the first day of the Henley Royal Regatta

A handful of revelers made quite a literal splash when they ended up in the River Thames on their way home from the Henley Royal Regatta yesterday.

Established in 1839, the rowing event takes place every year and sees teams compete in more than 300 races along the river in Oxfordshire.

But some attendees seemed more engaged than most onlookers on the first day, ending up in the water with an overturned boat in tow.

It appeared that the men had tried to board the canoe after a long afternoon at the regatta, and hadn’t made it completely safe.

Police officers rushed to the rescue as they pulled the canoe out of the water.

Elsewhere, well-dressed revelers had clearly enjoyed the festivities, holding on to plastic cups as they stooped to adjust their shoes for the long walk home.

Others gave up altogether and sat on the floor in their smart jackets and ties.

Tuesday was the first of the six-day Henley Royal Regatta, which ends on Sunday.

In 2021 it was announced that women would be allowed to wear trousers to the Henley Royal Regatta for the first time since its foundation in 1839.

Long-standing sartorial rules — which called for over-the-knee skirts and no trousers, and a blazer or dress coat — crumbled under pressure from campaigners who labeled the former dress code as “symbolic of an era when women couldn’t compete and were just there to look nice’.

Attendees took full advantage of the relaxed rules this year, with some opting to pair their floral dresses with trainers, sandals or Converse sneakers.

Others wore sstylish summer dresses with elegant headgear and wedge heels, some emulated Wimbledon fashion and wore immaculate white ensembles.

During the regatta, national clubs from around the country will compete for honors on the River Thames in a number of races.

Established in 1839, the popular sporting event goes hand in hand with a day of picnicking and drinking.

Teams compete in over 300 international level races on the Thames, including both Olympic rowers and crews new to the event.

It was first performed in 1839 and has been held every year since then, except during the two world wars and 2020 due to Covid-19.

This year, for the first time, the six-day regatta will admit international entrants into the junior men’s eights, as well as teams from UK private and state schools.

Sir Steve Redgrave, chairman of the Henley Royal Regatta, said a major British private school feared opening the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup to international teams would mean students competing against ‘super clubs’.

Sir Steve said he attended a meeting of 55 schools where a private school, which he did not name, wanted the cup closed to international participants.

But he added that it would happen “sooner or later” and it was “the right thing to do.”

In a podcast this month, Sir Steve was asked if schools including Eton College, St Paul’s School and St Edward’s School should be concerned about the emergence of ‘big American clubs coming to race – they are very fast’.

He said, “One of those top schools didn’t want it. But sooner or later it would happen. We can’t stop this, in fact, it’s the right thing to do.’

Sir Steve explained that the rowing towns in the United States were ‘huge’ and the clubs covered the whole state and were not school oriented like in Britain.

He said this meant their rowing clubs were a “little bit bigger” because they appeal to rowers from more schools.

The chairman added: ‘What we don’t want is for each country to be able to put together a squad, which is almost a national eight. [team].

“It’s not an event for national eights — it’s for the top juniors of their rowing institutions.”