Craig Hoffman knew when he began coaching at Malvern Prep that he wanted to share the best experiences rowing could offer with his young athletes.
High on that list was the Henley Royal Regatta.
"It's a remarkable event, and when I began coaching at Malvern, I was aware of what Henley was all about and I wanted to share it with the Malvern Prep rowing team," Hoffman said.
This week, Hoffman and his staff have settled into three private homes located on the banks of the Thames River near the storied Henley-on-Thames race course, and have begun preparing to race in the 2017 Henley.
Hoffman has three Malvern boy's quads entered in the Fawley Challenge Cup, and they are among 59 United States high school, collegiate, or elite crews entered this year at Henley.
(See the list of 2017 Henley crews here.)
This is the seventh-time Hoffman has brought Malvern crews to Henley, and his crews have seen a fair amount of success, including reaching the final in 2003.
When Malvern sets its goals each season, Hoffman targets all the big markers on the U.S. calendar, including the Head of the Charles, Stotesbury Cup, Philadelphia City Championships, the Scholastic Rowing Association of America national championships, USRowing Youth National Championships - and when they are fast enough, the Henley Royal Regatta.
But getting Henley must be earned.
"We set pretty high standards for going over," he said. "We need to win Stotesbury, and usually, SRAAs. We tend to go over every two to three years when crews are fast. We don’t usually go back-to-back, but you go when the crew is able to compete
"Henley is one of the most remarkable rowing events in the entire world going back to the 1700s. The traditions are mostly the same with some great updates with technology with the regatta."
When it comes to tradition, Henley is steeped in it, and athletes look to rowing there as a career goal. Some have been attending Henley since they were very young and growing up in rowing families. U.S. single sculler John Graves has been to Henley as both a competitor and a fan - a very young fan.
When he was 10, Graves was there to see Jamie Koven win the Diamond Challenge Sculls in the single, the event Graves will race this year.
"Henley is unlike any other race and coming over here is incredibly special," Graves told row2k this week. "I clearly remember being at Henley as a 10-year-old and watching Jamie Koven win the Diamonds in 1998.
"Jamie Koven was about as cool as Michael Jordan to me and the Diamonds was the NBA Finals. At the beginning of this year, I knew that I wanted to make it a priority to come over to Henley and give the Diamonds my best."
Hoffman didn’t make NBA comparisons when he spoke to row2k Wednesday, but he was clear that he sees the regatta as a true measure of rowing success that takes more than just one good race to win.
"The crews in the event are very fast crews and they're from all over the world," Hoffman said. "This year it is predominantly English crews entered and the level of sculling in England is very, very high.
"What we've seen in the past is, it's not always the fastest crew that has won, it's the crew that has been able to make it through round after round after round."
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06/23/2017 2:22:18 PM