Thursday morning in the boat tents you tasted the international flavor of this 2010 Henley Regatta. Although a few International crews went down the course yesterday, the first round of the Diamonds, Princess Royal Challenge, Doubles and Goblets Cups (for singles and doubles) brought a bigger clutch of crews from different pockets of the World to the Thames this morning.
New Zealand, Japan, Canada, US, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, France... all jumping in the UK sandbox to play the Henley game of advance or eliminate. The first US crew on the playground this morning was Potomac Boat Club from Washington, DC, and they were not playing nice. Still flying under the radar, this crew looked strong, composed and ready for more.
A clarification on Potomac from yesterday's report. Only one (apparently media-trained) rower spoke up when asked if any of them had been to Henley before. Thanks to Mike McCarthy, Colgate alum, 5 seat for Potomac BC 8 and Henley alum for the information that not one, but six rowers from the boat have been to Henley in the past. Perhaps the most experienced at this pleasant venue is Nick Davies, the token Brit in the crew. Now guys, as we keep interviewing please throw that info at me, it's not like we can just look you up in the old programmes tacked to the wall in the bars.
The crew had a fast start at a high rating that put them a full 2 boat lengths ahead early. Just before Fawley, it was announced they had lost a bit of their lead. There is a fairly strong headwind kicking in today, it is yet to be seen how much it will affect racing as time ticks.
"We had taken a move about that point (before Fawley), and we came off that move we were a little unsettled with the wind and we were just finding our base rhythm again for a few strokes," says Stroke Chad Jungbluth. They harnessed that move and dismissed the tottering strokes into a steady lead from Remenham on; always at least 2 boat lengths, sometimes more, they were able to finish 3 beats lower, almost 3 boats ahead. "We're always getting better, each race," concludes Jungbluth.
For Bob Price (4) and Jungbluth, two of the older athletes in this Potomac craft, they are enjoying a college-like experience, almost 2 decades later. "It isn't bad for a summer vacation," says Price, who maxed-out his vacation days to play "rower at Henley, v2."
The wind did continue to blow, and as the smaller boats fought the time-adding breeze, a storyline was developing, more on this for sure.
On that note, as Thomas and Peter Graves crossed the line after a victory by that politely imprecise and equally painful margin of "easily," one the Bantam Boat Club brothers said to their opposition, "a strong headwind out there!" The double of Owen and Boughman from Cambridge Rowing Club '99 only nodded, knowing they were beat right good, headwind or not. Brothers Graves had lowered their rating to 24.
The brothers came from opposite shores (California and Connecticut) about a month ago to train together in their hometown of Cincinnati, OH, where the club name of Bantam Rowing Club originates. Both departed coaching gigs (Thomas was doing private instruction and masters coaching, Peter was at Trinity where they both are alums) and decided to train in earnest. Earlier outings, like their fourth place finish in the National Selection Regatta (NSR) 2 Thursday time trail and sixth place in the NSR 2x final in May just weren't as successful as they'd like, so they have been working hard to get the rhythm and power back. The winners of both the time trails and the final at that NSR, Warren Anderson and Glen Ochal, are here at Henley, so there is some serious in-house opposition for the Graves.
"We charged until Fawley," says Peter Graves. After that, they had the opportunity to bring it down and settle. "it is a competitive field," so warming up but not breaking down was a good option for them. Tomorrow they face the French duo of Berrest and Bahain. "We're new to this," says Thomas (stroke) of their International experience, which is limited. Here they hope to keep progressing, once home they tentatively plan on training in California until NSR 4 in August. This family has a long history of success in Trinity Eights at the Henley, more on this later.
On this slower morning for US Crews (phew!), the next race was a US v US match...Boston v DC...seniors v frosh. The meeting of Harvard seniors Chris and Mark Fuller (identical twins), Ivan Posavec and Duncan Gilchrist, all graduates with jobs once they return home, with able Georgetown freshmen Broughton, Hennessy, Hoffshot and dePentheny-O'Kelly was a bit like trying to beat up your big brother. You can scuffle, but you might get crushed.
"Our freshman eight had very good success this year," says Tony Johnson, a 20-year veteran of Hoya coaching (and according to Johnson, "more than 5 but less than 10 Henley visits," as a coach, some likely during his 20 years at Yale). "So early in the season, they expressed some desire to go to Henley," shares Johnson. "After the Sprints a few of the guys said they'd like to stay together," he explains. The result is four guys from random seats in the boat (7, 5, 3 and 4 from the eight with Matt Hennessy switching sides) here at Henley, winning their first round. Harvard stopped them in this second round, mostly with stability catch-to-finish in the chop and a smooth recovery that eliminated some of the check Georgetown just couldn't get rid of mid-race. "I think there was a lot of nervous energy," says Johnson.
"I really respect what these guys have done," says Harvard Coach Wayne Berger about Georgetown, noting that the Georgetown Varsity Four had a solid second-place finish at the IRAs. As a former Dad Vail school, Georgetown doesn't have as much Sprints (higher-level championship) background as many of the other crews in the IRAs. "These conditions suit us really well," says Berger of the wind and chop through the middle of the course. "When we ramp up for the Harvard/Yale race we're down on the Thames (US), and we get a lot of headwinds, tailwinds, so we have some experience with this," he explains. "We talk a lot about just suspending the body weight on the handle...and not letting the conditions dictate what you are going to do," adds Berger.
"This is a very experienced group of guys, so they've done a lot of racing," he says. "One of the guys is Canadian, and this is Canada day, so he said we had to win." Stroke from this four, Mark Fuller, rowed in both the Prince Albert fours race in the morning, then the Temple Challenge eights race versus University of Southern California yesterday as a replacement for injured rower Parker Washburn, 6 seat. Washburn is expected back for their match against Exeter after the tea break this evening. According to a bumper sticker at the regatta car parks which declared "Exeter: probably the best university in the world!" they are facing some superheros from a superlative academic institution. Could Harvard counter that bold statement?
Very likely, but for now they are sticking with understatement, a skill that is mastered to a stunning degree by the hosts here. An example: On the launch, when faced with the question about the predicted rain tomorrow, a race umpire admitted, "we may have a drop of rain tomorrow, yes."
With that, it is "lunch interval," quiet time back here on land.
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07/01/2010 11:19:14 PM
07/01/2010 8:45:47 AM