Good Night, 

From Henley

Henley-on-Thames — The medals have been awarded, the quaint town of Henley is slowly emptying out, and another Henley Royal Regatta has concluded. 

The afternoon on the River Thames was highlighted by the German National Team racing as R.C. Hansa Dortmund beating the British National Team (Molesey B.C. and Leander Club) by 1 length to win the prestigious Grand Challenge Cup.  The Germans tied the course record at the Barrier (1.43) and Fawley (2.53) and set a new record at the finish line in 5 minutes, 57 seconds.  The matchup was considered a prelude to the 2012 Olympic finals in London.

All was not lost for Great Britain, despite the loss in Henley's premier event.  Team GB won five of trophies on the day after a strong semifinal that saw all of its men's boats reach the finals.

On the American side, the U.S. women's quad rowing out of Princeton Training Center beat the Australian Institute of Sport by 1 1/4 lengths in 7 minutes, 2 seconds to win gold in the Princess Grace Challenge Cup.

It was a particularly strong day for the U.S. women's team, highlighted by the world champion eight beating the British by 1 3/4 lengths in the Remenham Cup Challenge. 

In a race that stirred up the Henley crowd like a straw in a jug of Pimm's, England's Abingdon School beat St. Andrew's School from Middletown, Del., by 1 3/4 lengths in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup.  Abingdon, located just 20 miles from Henley, had a huge contingent on hand that turned the banks of the Thames into a staging ground for the day's biggest celebration.  St. Andrew's, which had a splendid five-day showing, lost by 1 3/4 lengths.

The final U.S. crew competing in the afternoon was an American men's quad out of California's Chula Vista Training Center.  The Americans lost by 2 1/2 lengths to the Brits from Leander Club & Molesey B.C., which set a new course record by finishing in 6 minutes, 19 seconds.

This year's regatta was highlighted by beautifully calm weather creating spectacular racing conditions.  All told, 33 records were broken and 24 were equalled over the five days of racing.

Click HERE for a rundown of the results in every event at Henley.

Scroll down for a wrap-up on this morning's finals.

***

U.S. Off To A Smashing Start


Henley-on-Thames, England — It might not be the Fourth of July, but the Third will suffice.  The Americans stormed out of the gates this morning at the Henley Royal Regatta, winning three races to capture gold. 


Cal-Berkley's lightweight eight matched its own course record in a dominant victory over Holland's ASR Nereus to win the Temple Challenge Cup for student eights.  Cal won by 4 1/2 lengths in 6:12 — just three seconds off the German National Team's time in its victory in the Ladies' Challenge Plate finals.  No crew finished within a length of Cal in any of its five races this week — Harvard's freshmen eight was its closest competition, finishing within 1 1/4 length.


The U.S. national world champion women's eight, rowing as Princeton Training Center, also equaled its own course record on the River Thames in beating the British National Team (labeled Leander Club and Gloucester Rowing Club) in 6:38 to capture the Remenham Challenge Cup.  The American team shattered records in each of its three races at Henley.


Despite trailing at the Barrier and Fawley, Harvard came from behind to upend Oxford Brookes University and win the  Prince Albert Challenge Cup in the opening race of the day.  Thanks to a commanding performance over the finals 1,000 meters, Harvard won the student coxed fours event by 1 3/4 lengths.  


When racing resumes this afternoon, the United States will have three more opportunities to claim gold.


At 3:00, Chula Vista Training Center will be opposed by Leander/Molesey in the Stewards' Challenge Cup finals.


Immediately following, at 3:10, St. Andrew's (Middletown, Del.) will try to gun-down England's Abingdon School to become just the fourth American crew since 1995 to win the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup in the junior eights.


In the final race of the day, the women from Princeton Training Center will try to go 2-for-2 in Henley championship races.  The U.S. quad from Princeton will face a strong crew from Australia with the Princess Grace Challenge Cup (named after Philadelphia's Grace Kelly) on the line.


Check back later for more updates.




PHOTO CREDIT: Henley Royal Regatta (http://www.hrr.co.uk)




***

Andrew’s Amazes, 

Americans Advance

Henley-on-Thames, England — In front of tens of thousands of spectators milling over every inch of open terrain along the River Thames, American boats stepped into the spotlight numerous times today at the Henley Royal Regatta.

No performance, though, rivaled that of St. Andrew’s School.  The Middletown, Del., crew sent shockwaves from the Stewards’ Enclosure to Temple Island.  In a pulsating come-from-behind victory, St. Andrew’s overpowered two-time defending champion Eton College, a fan favorite at Henley, in one of the best races of the day.

After trailing at the Barrier and Fawley, St. Andrew’s stormed to a 1/2-length victory in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup in 6 minutes, 29 seconds.  A championship  meeting with Abingdon School now awaits on Sunday. 

Abingdon topped Radley College in the other semifinal in 6:19 — a new course record on the Thames.

St. Andrew’s will look to become the first U.S. crew to win the Princess Elizabeth Cup since St. Ignatius Prep from San Francisco notched a victory in 2006.  Only two American teams have won the title in the last 10 years and just three have won since 1995.

Other U.S. victories today included:

The United States Women’s National Team, under the umbrella of the Princeton Training Center, beat the British National Team’s “B” boat from Leander Club and Reading University by a commanding 4 1/2 lengths.  The Americans will face the British National Team’s “A” boat (Leander Club and Gloucester Rowing Club) in tomorrow’s Remenham Challenge Cup finals.

The Princeton Training Center last won in 2006, the most recent American victory in the event.

Cal-Berkley topped Harvard by a 1/2 length to reach the finals of the Temple Challenge Cup.  Cal set record times at both the Barrier (1:44) and Fawley (2:57).  ASR Nereus now awaits in the finals.

G.L. Stone, rowing out of Cambridge Boat Club, beat Holland’s F.P. Dekker by

4 1/2 lengths to reach the finals of the Princess Royal Challenge Cup.

Harvard will be featured along with Oxford Brookes University in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup finals.  Harvard trailed Newcastle University in the semifinal at both the Barrier and Fawley, but managed to set a course record by posting 6.57 for a 3/4 length victory. 

Scroll down for a feature stories on the University of Virginia and a recap of Malvern Prep's loss in the Fawley Challenge Cup.

***

Standing Tall At Henley, 

Virginia Validates Vails

Henley-on-Thames, England — At 10 o’clock this morning, there was a slight bottleneck at the end of the Henley Royal Regatta course on the River Thames.

The first of two semifinals in the Temple Challenge Cup had concluded.  Cal-Berkley's lightweight eight and Harvard's freshmen eight cleared the finish line and, hunched over in exhaustion, slowly trickled toward the docks.

Passing alongside heading toward the starting line, meanwhile, was Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus — ASR Nereus for brevity’s sake — a powerful composite boat featuring some of the top student rowers from Holland.

Taking in the whole scene, waiting to exit the docks with necks wrenched around looking backward, was the University of Virginia, a club program from the United States set to line up against ASR Nereus in the Temple Challenge Cup’s other semifinal.  

Cal-Berkley, Harvard, ASR Nereus, Virginia.

“Not bad company,” said UVA coach Frank Biller.

Seeing Virginia’s varsity eight grouped with some of the top college boats in the world would warm the heart of every underdog out there.  The crew that finished fourth at the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta took its talent and chopped through its bracket at Henley.

There was always a sense, though, that eventually a meeting with a Goliath would arise.  Unfortunately, that day was today.  

Standing amongst elite crews, Virginia finally fell.  ASR Nereus, last year’s Temple Cup runner-up to Harvard, rolled down the Thames in 6 minutes, 22 seconds to edge Virginia by 1 length.

Biller’s crew — an undersized group with an un-intimidating erg average — never folded.

“It was a tremendous effort,” said the coach.

UVA came into the race knowing of the Dutch boat’s prowess for blistering starts.  The goal was to hang with ASR Nereus off the line and then resiliently push it until the opponent rolled over.  

Virginia pushed, but the Dutch never rolled.

“I think that was just the best we had,” Biller said.  “They rowed beyond what they’re worth on paper.  They tried and they tried all the way down.  They pushed them as much as they could.  I think that’s just as good as it gets.”

Trailing by as much as 1 3/4 lengths after the midway point, David reached in for a stone as Goliath moved steadily.  The Virginia crew upped its stroke count to 40 and hurled a stone from its sling.

ASR Nereus, however, simply batted it away.  The Dutch dvanced to a date with Cal-Berkley in Sunday’s Temple Challenge Cup finals.  There would be no upset today, but for the crew of Mark Bezold (stroke), Scott Stuard (2 seat), Sean Fagan (3 seat), Steven Lee Kramer (4 seat), Matt Miller (5 seat), Alan Kush (6 seat), Ben Hammond (7 seat), Jon Furlong (Stroke) and coxswain Allie Plettner, there was no prouder moment all year than as the hugs exchanged on the dock afterward.

“It makes everyone realize that we’re really up to something,” said Biller, who spent stints coaching in the Philadelphia area at Mount St. Joseph’s Academy, St. Joseph’s Prep and Penn A.C.  “For us to get to the final four at Henley is just fantastic.  I’ve been getting emails of congratulations from people I’ve never even heard of.  Even the president of the school emailed me.  It’s a big deal.  It’s a huge deal.”  

Epitomizing the spirit of club crew that so many Aberdeen Dad Vail teams rely on, Virginia’s varsity eight is composed of former high school rowers mixed with athletes that never rowed before college.

Hammond, the sophomore 7 seat, never touched an oar as of last August.  Yet he managed to climb from Biller’s novice eight all the way to the varsity eight.  In less than a year, Hammond went from being a non-rower to a competitor at the most prestigious regatta in the world. 

“I’ve never been a part of anything like this before,” he said.  “It’s been unforgettable.  I had no idea any of this could happen.  The more I’ve gotten into it, the more I’ve fallen in love with it.  Now, here I am.  This is the best (Virginia) has ever done at Henley.  I’m so proud to have been part of it.”

Proud being the key word — as in, Virginian did Dad Vail proud.

***

Malvern Succumbs To Top English Crew

Henley-on-Thames, England — Malvern Prep’s 3,500-mile journey from Philadelphia to Henley ended this morning over the course of a two-mile trip down the River Thames.

Malvern’s all-senior boat of Pat Donahue, Austin Bury, Alec Somers and Dan Schwarz ran into one of the finest crews from England in Sir William Borlase’s School and lost in the quarterfinals of the Fawley Challenge Cup at the Royal Henley Regatta.

“That was just a very fast boat,” said Malvern coach Craig Hoffman.  “Our guys gave it their all.”

After a clean start by both crews, Sir William Borlase’s pushed out to take a 1/2-length lead as the boats passed Temple Island.  Malvern's senior quad responded with a push of its own at the 1,000-meter mark of the 2,112-meter course and drew even with the English boat.  With 700 meters left, Malvern shifted up again to stay alongside its English opposition, but ultimately couldn’t keep up.  

In the end, Sir William Borlase’s pulled away over the final 50 to 100 meters to win by 1 length.  The English crew, which set the course record yesterday, posted the fastest time of the morning by four seconds, beating Malvern in 6 minutes, 49 seconds.

“They just got away from us,” Somers said.  “We pushed as hard as we could.”

Somers is just one member of the boat that will compete at an elite university next year.  He’s staying in the Philadelphia area to attend the University of Pennsylvania, along with Schwarz, while Donahue is heading to Cal-Berkley and Bury is off to Georgetown.

All four were members of boats that won gold at the Stotesbury Regatta and the U.S. Rowing school and club national championship.

“Coming to Henley was a great way to top-off my high school rowing career,” Somers said.  “It’s a beautiful place.  The tradition in Philadelphia is one of a kind, but this is a whole different animal.  It was really exciting.”

Malvern’s victory over Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club (Scotland) by 1 3/4 lengths on Friday marked the fifth time in nine years that Hoffman’s crew reached at least the Fawley Cup quarterfinals.

***

Rough Morning On The Thames

A powerhouse crew from ASR Nereus (Holland) ended Virginia's Cinderella run in the Temple Challenge at the Henley Royal Regatta this morning.  Nereus edged UVA by 1 length to advance to the finals.  Virginia's appearance in Henley's semifinals marked the best performance in the program's history.

In Philadelphia-related news, Malvern Prep's bid to win the Fawley Challenge Cup for the first time in school history also ended in this morning.  Malvern lost to 

Sir William Borlase by 1 length in the Fawley quarterfinals.  Borlase posted the fastest time of the morning by four seconds, beating Malvern in 6 minutes, 49 seconds.

Full stories upcoming on dadvail.org




***

Rack The Boat; Virginia Stays Alive In Temple Challenge

Henley-on-Thames, England — The beauty of the Henley Royal Regatta — besides the rippling River Thames, the plush enclosures and the chic attire — is in its straightforward verdicts.

You lose, you and your boat go home.  Plain and simple.

As day by day passes at Henley, less and less boats are racked in the spacious boat tent.  On Wednesday, every row was filled with shells.  By Friday, more were gone.

The ultimate experience for any Henley crew is returning its boat to the tent and knowing it will still be there the next day.  This morning, the University of Virginia’s varsity eight — a club program trying to steal the big dogs’ bone — returned its shell to the rack following a quarterfinal race against the University of London.

It will still be there on Saturday morning.

“Feels so good to put the boat back in there with a number on it,” said Virginia coxswain Allie Plettner.  “We’re still alive.”

London hung alongside Virginia for much of today’s Temple Challenge Cup quarterfinal, but UVA made a strong push over the final 500 meters to win by 3/4 of a length.  Virginia’s time of 6:17 was the second-fastest of the day behind Harvard’s new course-record of 6:12.

“We’re really excited and happy because we can actually perform better than we raced today,” Plettner said.  “Although we had a pretty good race, there’s still a lot we can improve on.”

Virginia, the fourth-place finisher at the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta in mid-May, will face ASR Nereus (Holland) in tomorrow’s semifinal.  Nereus, last year’s Temple Challenge Cup runner-up, advanced with a 1 1/4 length victory over R.S.V.U. Okeanos (Holland) in 6:21.

“They’re fast,” Plettner said plainly.  “We better be on the ball.”

For both Virginia and Nereus, tomorrow will mark the fourth race in as many days.  The pressure only grows as each day passes.  The UVA crew, which has already posted the school’s greatest showing at Henley, tries its best to avoid the 24-hour circus of emotions that come with competing on such a grand stage. 

“We really try to stay calm,” Plettner said.  “It’s not too bad right after you finish the race, but you wake up the next day and you’ve got butterflies in your stomach.  We were really happy today’s race was in the morning.  It gives you less time to ratchet up the nerves.”

Tomorrow’s race time is TBD.

Cal-Berkley's lightweight eight and Harvard's freshmen eight will meet in the other semifinal of the Temple Challenge Cup.  While Harvard posted a new course record today, Cal managed to record new record times into the Barrier (1:44) and Fawley (2:58).

With only four schools remaining, Virginia’s senior-laden crew now stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the finest college boats in the world.  For a club program that centers its season around competing in the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta grand finals, a trip to Henley’s finals would represent a landmark moment.

“There’s five of us in that boat that have already graduated,” Plettner said.  “Every time we go out on that water we wonder if that will be the last time we row for Virginia.” 

Let the 24-hour circus begin.

Listen to the highlights of today's race here.

Virginia's Varsity Eight

Bow - Mark Bezold, Sr.

2 seat - Scott Stuard, So.

3 seat - Sean Fagan, Sr.

4 seat - Steven Lee Kramer, So.

5 seat - Matt Miller, Sr.

6 seat - Alan Kush, Sr. 

7 seat - Ben Hammond, So.

Stroke - Jon Furlong, So.

Cox - Allie Plettner, Sr. 

***

Malvern Prep's Henley Mission Has Begun

Henley-on-Thames, England — Having reached at least the quarterfinals of the Henley Royal Regatta’s Fawley Cup in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008, Malvern Prep’s senior quad is ready to break through and return stateside with some hardware this year.

“Nothing will be left on the table,” said head coach Craig Hoffman.  “If we go down, it will be because the other crew is just faster.”

Malvern’s mission began flawlessly today.  Hoffman’s crew defeated Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club (Scotland) by 1 3/4 lengths on the River Thames to reach the Fawley Cup quarterfinals for the fifth time in nine years.

Tomorrow’s test will be daunting.  Malvern will face Sir William Borlase, which tied the course record in the Fawley Cup today in an eye-opening 6 minutes, 40 seconds during its victory over Norwich Rowing Club.

Malvern beat Clydesdale in 6:55.

“They’ll have a real fight on their hands tomorrow,” Hoffman said.  “(Sir William Borlase) is one of the best crews in England, if not the best.”

A crew stocked with four seniors, Malvern’s Pat Donahue, Austin Bury, Alec Somers and Dan Schwarz have an opportunity to leave a legacy at Malvern.  Hoffman’s quad has won gold at the last five Stotesbury Cup Regattas, but Henley is an entirely different animal.  Malvern has come close, reaching the finals in 2003, while the 2008 crew was knocked out in the semifinals.

“The 2003 boat set the standard,” Hoffman said.  “Everybody that comes through Malvern has the same goals — win Stotesbury and win the U.S. Rowing school and club national championship.  The thought process is that if you win those championships, you’ll have the opportunity to come to Henley.”

All four Malvern seniors will compete at elite colleges next year.  Donahue is heading to Cal-Berkley, Bury is off to Georgetown and both Somers and Schwarz will row for Penn.

***

Still Standing Tall

Following a bizarre season that saw a boat-wide bout with pneumonia and an overhaul of its lineup, Virginia beats odds to advance to Temple Challenge Cup quarterfinals

Henley-on-Thames, England — If there was ever a year that the University of Virginia varsity eight would post its greatest performance at the Royal Henley Regatta, 2011 would not have been the obvious guess.

"Yeah," said senior captain Mark Bezold, "it's been a weird year."

Yet, lo and behold, Virginia notched a one-length victory over Oxford Brookes University this afternoon as the sun made its slow decent toward the horizon over the River Thames.  The win propelled the crew to a quarterfinal meeting against the University of London in the Temple Challenge Cup — the furthest any Virginia crew has ever advanced at Henley.

“This win forces us to kind of take a step back and think, ‘Wow, other crews have come here and haven’t done this well,” said Bezold, the crew’s bow seat.  “It’s pretty exciting for us, with everything we’ve been through, to get to come out here and really show what we can do on the water.”

As Bezold spoke, it was clear that none of this seemed possible around a month ago.

Let’s remember back to the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta in mid-May.  Virginia was a crew on life support, (almost) literally.  Following a third-place finish behind Florida Tech and Temple at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in mid-April, the team was besieged by ill fate.

Pneumonia struck six members of the varsity eight.  For a five- to six-week span, antibiotics were used more than ergs.  The crew knew since last August that a trip to Henley was going to be made regardless of what occurred in Philadelphia, but at that point, Virginia simply needed to fill a boat healthy enough to row 2,000 meters on the Schuylkill River.  

By the time the Aberdeen Dad Vail wrapped up, a fourth-place finish in the grand finals practically seemed like a victory.  Because the Henley trip was already scheduled, Virginia was able to take many positives from its performance at Vails.  That focus resulted in a resounding gold-medal performance two weeks later at the American Collegiate Rowing Association Championships—the national championship for club rowing programs.

Not only did Virginia win gold at ACRA, it defeated Michigan, the Dad Vail champion, in the process.

“Having Henley in the background helped us keep some perspective,” Bezold said.  “We knew we were training for something just beyond the next week.”

On top of needing to get healthy, Virginia coach Frank Biller also shuffled the deck in his varsity eight during the time between SIRA and Dad Vail.  Over the time, Scott Stuard shifted from three seat to two seat, Sean Fagan moved from stroke to three seat and Jon Furlong shifted from bow to eight seat.  As if that wasn’t enough, Bezold was moved from the JV eight to the varsity bow seat and Ben Hammond, a sophomore who never rowed prior to September, moved from the novice eight to the varsity seven seat.

Only the four, five and six seats — Steven Lee Kramer, Matt Miller and Alan Kush — have remained unchanged.  Coxswain Allie Plettner has also been there all along.

“The way we train all year long is to adapt to situations,” Biller said.  “We do a lot of individual work, we scull a lot and some times I send them on some adventures that work on their mental strength.  This way they’re able to face awkward situations and take it as it is.”

Five member so of Virginia’s crew are seniors.  At this point, each race at Henley is one more opportunity to extend their careers — one more opportunity to keep this bizarre season alive.

“We can still do more,” said Bezold.

Given Virginia’s resilience, there isn't much it can’t do.

***