The third day of racing at the Henley Royal Regatta is almost complete and things are shaking out for the semifinals to be held tomorrow. American crews have had some notable successes and some pretty close defeats. In the Ladies Plate, IRA finalist Columbia went down to a really high quality Dutch crew by 2/3 of a length in a very fast time while Boston University lost in the Remenham Cup by 3/4 of a length. In the Princess Elizabeth Cup, St. Joe's Prep went down swinging to Eton College so the final four in perhaps the most hotly contested event is Scotch College of Australia, Shawnigan Lake of Canada, Eton College and Shrewsbury.The quarterfinals of the Temple Challenge Cup were incredibly competitive and saw Trinity's 1V, Stanford's freshmen, Harvard's freshmen, and Western Ontario's 1V reach the final four. Cornell's lightweight varsity lost to Stanford by a length, Harvard took out Williams' 1V, while Trinity dispatched Grand Valley State's 1V.
The competitiveness of the big boats, namely fours, quads, and eights in these rounds contrasts with the parades in the small boat categories like the Diamonds, Silver Goblets, and other sculling events. Crews rowing over the course at 26-30 spm and winning easily doesn't make for great racing.
The team will be traveling back to the US on Monday morning and then I'll be working a week of Bulldog Rowing Camp at Yale. More to come later on...Happy Fourth of July everyone.
