The 4th July brought more solid performances from the US crews. The draw has been quite fair this year, without too many US crews have to race each other in the early rounds - after all, it's a long way to come to get beaten by the crew from the next town...
The Temple
Yale got knocked out in one of the most exciting races of the day against University London. There was never more than a canvas in it, with Yale leading by 2 foot for most of the course, but losing out after UL put in a spurt at the 1 1/8 mile post, cruising through to win by 1/2 L.
Williams College, Orange Coast and Colgate were also put out of the Temple in the 2nd round, Colgate going down to the might of Oxford Brookes 'A' . To Colgate's credit, Brookes raised the rate to all of 27 - more than the 23 they cruised over at on Wednesday against the University of West England (to the sound of boo-ing from the enclosures)
Brookes has to be the favourite for the Temple this year, but Harvard will undoubtedly give them a run for their money if they meet on Sunday, though Harvard have to get through Durham first. Also left in the temple is Marist college, who put in a strong performance against Reading University, they meet Queen's University Belfast in the next round.
The Princess Elizabeth
Groton raced Shrewsbury in what was expected to be a close race, as the crews’ times from the previous day were very similar. A game of cat and mouse ensued but Groton took the advantage and pushed through. Shrewsbury then caught a crab at Remenham club allowing Groton to push out their lead to 4L.
The crew to watch in this event has to be St Andrews School, who had no problems beating Kings College School today. It looks like the Stewards somehow overlooked them when doing the seeding, and if their times so far are a good indicator, they may well cause a few waves when they meet the "favourites" Abingdon tomorrow. I can also reveal that both crews will be racing in pink... as it looks suspiciously like someone put the St Andrews racing suits in at too high a wash temp.
Brit cup
In another very exciting race, Colgate led off the start only to have London RC row through them. London never managed to break clear of the US crew, who put in the spurt of their lives in the last 100m and came through to win by 1/3 L. It was hard to tell who was more in shock at the end of the race - London, who had had a 1L lead at one point, or Colgate who didn't seem to believe that they'd won. Harvard also made it through to race another day - not exactly the prettiest rowing, but a strong performance against a scrappy Kingston crew.
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