It is opening day here at Henley Royal Regatta, Henley-on-Thames, England, and as per the norm, there are well-dressed spectators, colorful blazers on oarsmen, and overcast skies with just a touch of rain. The spectacle of Henley never fails to entertain, with match racing on the water and the classic Henley cocktail Pimm's on land. A quick glance up the course produced the comment by several insiders that the crowd seems heavy for a Wednesday--a good sign that this race is an enduring draw for the social set.
This week Leander Club, adjacent to the boat tents and a critical player in the regatta scene, will be keeping its signature cerise flag at half-mast in honor of legendary Harvard Coach Harry Parker, who passed last week after a two year battle with cancer. Ttribute to Harry here) Harvard has brought three crews, one in the Temple Challenge and two in the Visitors Cup, coached by by Bill Manning, ubiquitous in the boat tents here. Manning, in typical understatement when asked how he expects the Crimson to perform at this regatta, just said "we'll see." He has spent a lot of time with Harry Parker.
Twenty-seven US Crews will line up against opposition this regatta, not all today, though some have already finished today. In an early bout of the Prince Albert race for student fours, Bowdoin College crew lost by two and a quarter lengths. Their race against Edinburgh University Boat Club was close until about a mile, when the Scottish crew was able to take control of the match. Bowdoin responded by increasing the rating to 37, but was not able to pass. EUBC is the original training club of Katherine Grainger, now a rowing superstar in the UK with a gold medal in the women's pair at the 2012 Olympic games. It is also one of the largest rowing clubs in Scotland, competing against a small division III New England college. The Bowdoin Men's varsity four won the New England championships, but have to leave the Henley course early on.
Also falling in the first round in the morning session was Northeastern University Alumni by over 4 lengths in a round of the Thames Challenge to Royal Chester Rowing Club. Associate Coach Ted Benford says the alumni boat is "mostly supporters of the program, with recent grads but many from the nineties...it as a throw-together boat, but they brought family, wives and girlfriends," and clearly are enjoying both the Henley and Northeastern Rowing experience. The crew, supporters, and other alumni were at an event in London until late Tuesday night before racing. The varsity crews skipped the morning row to catch up on sleep, but the alums did not have that opportunity. More on the 1V and 2V Eights later in the report.
There was a surprise finish for the University of Virginia in the Prince Albert student fours. This crew, with only one seat change, won the Head of the Charles collegiate fours in the fall. "My only expectation here is for the rowers to go hard and enjoy every stroke," says Coach Frank Biller before they raced. Any observer would see that at the end of this bout, the Cavaliers were not enjoying the strokes, or their finish. They took some time to recover and had clearly given it their all in the race against Trinity College, Dublin, regulars at this regatta. It was a tough draw for them, and they lost by about a 1/2 length. More news from Biller coming soon, as his Prince Albert "B" and Temple entries race later in the schedule today.
The first US Crew to race here at Henley was the Columbia University lightweight men in the Temple Challenge. Head Coach Scott Alwin is home as he and his wife are expecting a child, and two-year Assistant Coach Nich Parker is taking on the temporary post as the leader of this crew. "It is a tradition that if the crew medals at the IRA or Sprints, that there is an option to go to Henley," says Parker. "We didn't tell them until before the IRAs," he says. In that Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships final, the intervals were close--they were just 1.5 seconds from champions Harvard and .5 from Yale in second, and Dartmouth just .3 behind Columbia...but they earned the podium finish and a trip to Henley. Not sure how much a motivator that news was for the Lions, but that tiny margin separated them from hanging at their parents' house for the summer, or taking a trip to the English countryside to row. Good strokes, Columbia.
There is but one US entry in the Prince Elizabeth Challenge for junior eights, and Boston College High School passed through the first round nicely. The rowing program at BCHS was resurrected just five years ago, and head coach Steve McKiernan felt that a trip to Henley will broaden the scope of the program as it attempts to establish itself on the competitive waters of the Charles in Boston and beyond. 'Last year it was our first senior class and it was a reward for them to go to Henley," he says. They lost in the first round last year by just a half length to Belmont Hills School, but McKiernan still feels it was a good lesson, and five of those rowers are back again this year. "Yesterday they did a start against University of Washington," shares the coach about a practice session on the course, and the the boys' excitement over that was energizing. Most high school crews do not get the chance to line up against arguably the best collegiate crew in the world. He didn't say how they fared.
On race day, Boston College High School established a lead early, already ahead by 5 lengths at Fawley. They were able to back down on rating in the middle of the piece but were still ahead by more than four lengths at the 1 and 1/8 marker, ultimately finishing with the 5 length margin. It was a more fortunate draw than their 2012 pick in the early rounds, and leaves them to show up at racingtomorrow without the pain of a hard-fought first bout.
End of the first racing session at Henley, more to come from the longest racing day of the regatta.
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