Harvard Bowman "Jettisons His Oar, Follows It Overboard"
Henley almost ground to a halt today when, after a broken slide carriage on the first stroke of the race all but took him out, Harvard frosh eight bowman Mike Harrington leapt from the boat before the end of Temple Island.
From the official race report.
"Coming up to the top of the island, bow of Harvard's crew's seat jammed. After failing to move it he undid his gate, jettisoned his oar, and followed it overboard. Rowing with 7 men Harvard pursued Nereus who won in a way they would not have wished. All praise to the Harvard 7.
There is no breakage rule at Henley.
The irony of the situation is that the Harvard frosh very likely benefited from a similar equipment breakage in the same event two years ago. At the time, the Nereus crew from Holland, which was emerging as the favorite after two days of racing, broke equipment while racing the Yale University second varsity lightweight eight. Yale went on to win and advance, and Harvard subsequently defeated Yale, and went on to win the cup, never having had to face Nereus.
Having been on both sides of it, Bill Manning was philosophical - "That's Henley," he said.
In the interest of not scooping myself, I am forced to save most of my quotes and details for tomorrow's Boston Globe; we'll link it up asap (read it at It's an empty feeling - Man overboard as Harvard falls).
The forecast calls for pain
Weather report- there's a stiff headwind right down the pipe. How stiff? How does a 10:29 winning time in one of the women's single quarterfinals sound? Small boat crews cross the line, stop rowing, and immediately start drifting back toward the finish line thanks to the combination of wind and current.
More weather: conditions go from high sun to downpour and back again in the course of a few minutes, as the water went from a wind-flecked sparkle to steel gray and back. In their Remenham Cup quarterfinal, the Princeton crew started the race in a howling downpour, finished the race in full sun. Host family head Tom Coleman noted that "this weather is euphemistically called 'unsettled.'" In
The conditions do not bode well for lightweights; several lightweight crews went down today to much larger competitors. Rumor predicts a change in the weather for the weekend; we'll keep you posted.
Henley, or Iraq, Hmmm...
The Combined Services Crew, a mixed crew made up of army, navy, and RAF servicemen who row, was given a choice in the stretch leading up to the racing; race at Henley, or go to Iraq. Tough oneā¦
Mitsubishi DQ'd
After winning their first race yesterday, the Mitsubishi crew from Japan was disqualified from the Thames Cup this morning due to rowing with an ineligible rower - a former member of a Japanese lightweight national team was in the crew. As I understand it, the president of the Mitsubishi crew intends to issue a formal apology.
Meanwhile, in the Goblets, the GB pair rowed with one lineup yesterday, subbed in an oarsman today due to medical reasons, and will put the original oarsman back in tomorrow. This is allowable for one reason - there is a rule that allows this with national team crews so they may jigger lineups during the regatta so that their selection might not be compromised by attending Henley.
But back in the Thames, the U of L that lost to Mitsubishi yesterday petitioned to be allowed to race today, as they had been eliminated by an ineligible crew. Their appeal was denied, and the Swiss crew from Lucerne that was to race them rowed a row-over this afternoon.
There have been a few row-overs the past couple days; this occurs when a crew is dq'd or scratches, and subsequently cannot compete. In the single elimination format, to give their opposition a bye for the day would cause an imbalance in the races rowed by each advancing crew; although a row-over is clearly much easier than an actual race, it is thought that to give a day off outright would be the greater evil.
Another DQ
Today's photo gallery shows a picture of a clash in the final strokes of a fours race; the crew nearest the camera was dq'd outright and told to stop rowing by the umpire, allowing the Berks lane crew to row through and win the race to advance. The stroke man, who had the toe, definitely dropped an F bomb.
Dead Man Not Really Dead
A popular British mystery series is filming on site this weekend; the photo in today's galleries is not of a dead man, but of an actor acting like a dead man. The film crews, who are apparently accustomed to fawning crowds during filming, were nonplussed by the reaction of the athletes, who very much ignored them.
PE Name Game
In yesterday's racing in the Princess Elizabeth, St. Paul's of Massachusetts faced St. Paul's of the UK; St. Paul's has been termed St. Paul's Concorde - very quaint spelling. St. Paul's met fellow Yanks St. Andrews today, winning in a close race.
Princeton vs. Princeton
There was a Princeton vs. Princeton final in the Temple last year, and it happened (sorta) again this year in the Remenham Cup - lining up opposite the Princeton crew in the Osiris coxswain seat was Princeton grad Meghan Patrick.
Quintessential Henley Outfit Made in Massachusetts
BU coach Holly Hatton made a snazzy hat from some Dollar Store flowers, and became the Henley fashion plate of the day. I saw at least five people take photos of her, and the costume crew from the local TV show mentioned above took her photo for use as a model for Henley-esque getups.
Never Mind the Rain
It wasn't enough for Cindy Bishop that it is raining now and then - she made an error in the traffic pattern yesterday, and got knocked into the drink by a passing crew. She's fine, and raced tonight, advancing to the semifinals by a verdict of "Easily."
Boat Name of the Week - Month - Century?
I can't repeat it here; see the galleries.
Still Standing
The current US tally of crews competing in tomorrow's semifinals:
Grand Challenge: Harvard Varsity
Remenham Cup: Princeton women's V8
Ladies Plate: Harvard 2V, Boston University V8
Temple: Navy lightweights, Harvard frosh
PE: St. Paul's
Goblets (men's pair): Graves and Graves (sons of Harry Graves)
Princess Royal (women's single): Cindy Bishop
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