A week back, every social media account in the sport kicked the week off by reminding us it was the Fourth of July...noted--which of course puts us into the heart of summer rowing.

Here's stuff that happened next, from the Lake of the Gods to the slightly less divine but--this week!--well-behaved lakes of central Jersey, and a few other spots besides.

Flexing was IN at Summer Nats

And so was, Three...?

Three-peat? Third Race of the Day? Took Third?

Dunno, but we got the shot!

Boat Name of the Week

Hands down, of course...

...but, would anyone care to explain this one?

Tech Went Swimming

At Henley:

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And at Mercer:

FWIW, we think "Having a net on-hand to rescue timing iPads" means that Kris Grudt, um, did it better on this one.

And So Did Some Scullers

But the Kids Were Alright

The eagle-kids that is:

Well, maybe not this one: he was looking a bit rough:

We Have Ourselves a Junior Women's Team

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Read about all the U19ers who earned spots for Varese at the Selection Camps here, and here is the list from the U23 Camps.

And There Was A Tri-State/Midwest Henley

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Sounds like the Gophers, Badgers, and Hawkeyes couldn't agree on the name, but it was a definitely a Henley, of sorts, when the three Big Ten Development camps got together...of course, they'll need to make room for USC and UCLA soon as their conference expands westward.

Speaking of Henley...

We did hear back on a cool blazer backstory after the dust settled on our wall-to-wall Henley Royal coverage last week:

IF you were a member of the Black Sheep Boat Club's second eight which, despite having the "crap" boat and no love from the first boaters, actually qualified for Henley that one magical year--when the 1st VIII did not--then you get this badge of honor embroidered on the sleeve of your blazer:

And, more importantly, the blokes in that first eight that "got culled" can continue to never live it down.

Et Vous Pret, Cox'ns?

Ron Chen got the Lakers Regatta coxswains' race started in the "traditional" manner--in French:

Here he is making it official at the finish...and something tells us it may not have been the most gripping coxswain race ever rowed.

And the Laker Medals Were Supportive

Blue & Yellow this year, for Ukraine:

Meanwhile, at the 'Lake of the Gods'

Just a little World Cup 3 round-up for all the rowing geeks out there:

The Lighties Are Fast

A World's Best Time for GB's Imogen Grant:

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And In Case You Want To Check The Math

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For good measure, IRL's Paul O'Donovan also set a new WBT in the LM1x or, as this post puts it:

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The Dutch Winnst the Overall World Cup

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Which was impressive since the Dutch national team pretty much stayed home this round and the Brits came off Henley and won nearly everything, but they still came up short on the overall points.

How did Team GB do? Well, 7 Golds, a silver, and a bronze, sweeping the 3 Men's Sweep events (M2, M4, M8) for first time ever at Lucerne, winning the W4-, the LW2x, the M1x, and Imogen's WBT in the LW1x.

All of which, apparently, revived amongst the pundits the age-old:

Does "Henley Hurt Lucerne Results" Debate

I think today is putting to bed the notion that @BritishRowing always underperform at Lucerne having raced at @HenleyRegatta the week before #WRCLucerne

- Daniel Spring (@fatsculler) July 10, 2022

But.... ....the difference is that this time they went to HRR having _not_ done the previous world cup, but having put in a strong stint of training then letting the foot off the gas just enough to be fresh for these two events.

A vg strategy even if prob prompted by £lack.

- The Rowing Voice (@RowingVoice) July 10, 2022

Henley wasn't hot. Pretty significant factor in my experience.

- Matthew Pinsent (@matthewcpinsent) July 10, 2022

And, A Video Version of In The Driver's Seat

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Check out these items you may have missed this past week:

• our report on the Lightweight and Para Crews that earned sports on the Worlds team last Friday.
• the latest update on the efforts to Save FIT Rowing and get the programs reinstated
• the 7/10 edition of row2k's Best of Instagram: Henley, Lucerne, and more.
• and the most read news link this past week? Princeton Heavies Announce The Hiring Of Emma Carlisle-Reske As Assistant Coach