At the start of the week, I had a conversation about the Harvard entry with a friend, who said, "Harry wouldn't bring over any crews that he didn't think were capable of winning," and today's results show just how true that comment was.
In a day of racing that turned things upside down from the start, Harvard impressed throughout with their professional approach, dedication and intra-squad support.
The day began around 4:30am when quite a few of the Leander rowers started phoning their coaches complaining of vomiting and diarrhoea, which ultimately resulted in a delay to the final of the Fawley and a row over in the final of the Queen Mother, but Leander weren't the only club to suffer, as it soon became apparent that the stroke of the Harvard Temple eight was also in a bad way. After seeing a doctor, regatta officials gave the OK for him to be replaced by the stroke of the Harvard B Brit 4 crew, all of 2 hours before the Temple final.
The Harvard vs. Harvard final for the Britannia Challenge cup, which ended up being the first race of the day, was a win for Harvard B over Harvard A. Not a great surprise to anyone in the Crimson camp despite the weight differential in the crews. Harvard B stole an early lead after the A crew had a mucky start, crabbing a little and allowing the more consistent B crew to take the advantage. The B crew had increased their lead to 1 L by the Barrier and never looked in any danger of losing to their compatriots.
The next Harvard race up was the Ladies plate. Harvard moved swiftly into the lead and looked to dominate the race. Molesey pushed strongly at the Remenham Club but Harvard absorbed their challenge and equaled it. After that point, Molesey simply couldn't find enough left to sustain the pace and dropped back, letting Harvard take their second medal of the day without too much trouble.
The Temple was always going to be a good race. If I'd had to put my money where my mouth is, I would have definitely gone with Brookes, but on the day, as with so many of the other finals, things didn't go quite as expected. Harvard took 3/4 L off the start, the Brookes crew, keen to avenge their club's defeat in the Temple by Harvard last year, fought back to 1/2 L by the Remenham club. They then closed the gap to a canvas and held it there for quite a while. However, coming past the grandstand, Harvard pushed away, taking victory in one of the closest races of the day and allowing the Americans to take home 3 Henley medals. Of course this also means that one Mr. O'Donoghue has succeeded (along with Mr. Gostling of Leander club) in that rarest of tasks, taking two medals home from one Royal.
As one of his fellow crewmates said to him after the finish: "What's better than winning one Henley medal?"
Harry can tell you the answer to that.
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