Sixteen US crews lined up at the start by Temple Island today, as things wind down here on the Wednesday, only three have finished their Henley run.
A boat composed mostly of Tulane Varsity Men graduates, racing as New Orleans Rowing Club and coached by long-time Tulane coach Bob Jaugstetter, lost a Britannia contest this afternoon. Harvard's "B" 4+ in the Prince Albert, comprised of lightweights who did not go to U23 trials, lost to the Harvard heavies entered as the "A" boat. Then, , St Paul's School of New Hampshire fell to a larger crew from Kingston Grammar School in the first round of the Princess Elizabeth racing. St. Paul's has performed well at Henley historically, but has a new coach in Colin Campbell and is certainly in a rebuilding phase--look for a revived crew in years to come.
Harvard, as ever, has several boats here at Henley, and Coach Bill Manning is running the show for the Crimson until Harry Parker arrives later this week. "We have several boats here and none are as we have rowed them this season," said Manning. The Temple Eight is mostly freshman, with one oarsman out of the 2V, Jack Morrissey. The Ladies Plate boat is the Varsity Eight with a freshman filling in for a students who is working this summer. The Prince Albert "A" boat is 5 members of the IRA silver-medalist 2V, and the "B" boat is lightweights from different crews this year. "It was not the line-up they thought they were bringing," says Manning of the lightweight squad's four. Charley Butt's group had one athlete unable to travel due to visa problems, as a South African resident, and one or more off at U23 trials, where Harvard had athletes in the quad, a single and a double this weekend.
"The expectations are that we are going to be competitive," said Manning of the big picture, as racing commenced. And that Harvard v. Harvard first round draw for the fours? "No surprise, you see it so regularly that it is almost predictable, but we did travel a long way to do something we do at the Charles River daily," he quipped. "There are so many things about Henley that are unique. You run into so many that are special, and some that are not so special," he concluded. "Oxford Brookes has two boats racing against each other, and you have Leander A racing Leander B in another. It just happens."
St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia have been at the Henley game for some time. They won in 2000, and have made regular trips to the quarter and semi finals in recent years with both Bill Lamb and now Jim Glavin at the helm of the program. A few of the SJP 2000 winners are racing again in the Thames Challenge Cup as University Barge Club, Philadelphia, including the experienced coxswain Andy Kelly.
"It's been a good season," says Coach Glavin. "We were third in the [Stotesbury Cup], behind St. Andrews and St. Albans, by just narrow margins for both. And then the next week, when St. Andrews wasn't there, we beat St. Albans in the Scholastic Nationals in New Jersey." St. Andrews School, from Delaware, is here in Henley, too, and has beaten Prep twice already this year, so it could be interesting if these crews meet again on foreign water. There are three seniors in the Prep boat this year, which is promising for Glavin going into next year. The senior athletes are going on the Syracuse, Cornell, and the Yale lightwight team in the fall. The cox, five, and seven have raced the eight here in Henley before, while three and stroke raced as the spare pair, so they know what it is like to race a match. On that concept? "I still think they are very nervous," he jokes, on the idea that familiarity might help the athletes. Glavin's race plan? He smiles:"row our own race." Thanks coach!
In the Thames, for club eights, Green Lake Crew advanced, as did Kent School Alumni and a group of Yale lightweight alums from the 2002-2009 era racing as the Four Score and Four Rowing Club. We'll hear more from these guys tomorrow.
Hobart College, a DIII team from New York, lined up against a Southampton crew late in the schedule Wednesday. Six-year coach Mike Alton has been aiming toward making Hobart similar to some of the established DIII powerhouses like Trinity and Williams from Connecticut and Massachusetts. His crew has been the class of the Liberty League and a contender at the ECACs in recent years, so it made sense to push for the next higher peak. Alton knew he had a good team of graduating seniors, and made it a goal to be at Henley in 2011 with this team.
"Of the nine guys in that boat, 7 are seniors. We had taken them to IRAs as freshman, and it just worked out that we could go this year," he explains. "We were hoping that we would not have to go through qualifiers, but we did and it turned out to be an advantage," says Alton. "We've been to Reading, been here [in the UK] for 2 weeks, and everything has gone great. Our goal was to get a win in the opening rounds." Alton was here in 1990 as an oarsman with Temple University, and knew how special it might be for his crew.
On to racing Thursday,with more from Henley staring at 9:00 am.
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06/29/2011 1:11:58 PM
I believe the St. Pauls crew only has 1 senior in the boat so look for them to gain a lot of experience and speed next spring from this extended season.