FIT Wins Opening Race, Eyes Yale

Henley-on-Thames, England — Florida Tech entered Wednesday’s first-round meeting with Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club at the Henley Royal Regatta with a straightforward motive.

Win the start.  Win the race.

The no-frills approach worked.  FIT jumped out to an early advantage just a few strokes into the race and cruised to victory over Cambridge on the shimmering waters of the River Thames.  

The win sets up a meeting with Yale University’s lightweight eight, the IRA national champions, in the second round of Henley’s Temple Challenge Cup.  The start time will be determined at the end of Wednesday’s racing.  

“The start was solid,” said FIT coxswain Casey Dalal.  “We were a 1/4 boat up about 10 strokes into the race and then shifted to a higher (stroke) rate for the center portion of the race.”

After leading through the middle of the race, FIT extended its lead further over the final 500 meters.  From there it was all Tech.  Cambridge didn’t challenge.

“Henley rewards rowing from the lead position,” said FIT head coach Jim Granger.  “You have to be a really strong crew to row someone down from behind.  We have been fast off the start all year long, so we wanted to play to our strengths and get off on the first 25 or 30 strokes.”

While the victory over Cambridge came rather smoothly, there was one minor bump, or boom, along the road.  

Nearing the 350-meter mark not long after its solid start, FIT’s shell caught the currant and the crew’s oars smacked the wooden booms that guide Henley’s 2,112-meter course.  Disaster seemed imminent for a fleeting moment, but the calamity would be nothing more than a brief setback.  FIT regained its composure and continued to cruise.

“I think we only lost one or two seconds out of it,” said Dalal, a senior from Melbourne Beach, Fla.  “We got back together after that and went up by about a full boat length.  It was frightening for a moment, but after we got back away from it we were fine.  It didn’t really effect anyone nearly as much as I thought it was going to.”

With an emphasis placed on a quick jump from the Thames starting platform, FIT needed to evade the typical nerves felt by American crews at their first Royal Henley Regatta.  As the crew approached the line and the magnitude of the moment rose, any nerves were replaced by eagerness. 

“The nerves weren’t out of the ordinary,” said David Crooke, the boat’s junior six seat.  “It was excitement more than anything.”  

Florida Tech finished with a time of 6 minutes, 40 seconds.  Yale topped St. Hild & St. Bede College by 1 1/4 in 6:42 — nearly identical to FIT’s results. 

The results, though, don’t tell the entire story of Wednesday at Henley.

“The times were getting faster over the course of the day as the wind shifted from a headwind to a tailwind,” Granger said.

FIT will have an opportunity on Thursday to line up against one of the elite crew programs in the U.S.  Yale is well familiar with Henley.  FIT, meanwhile, is making its first appearance since 1996 and 2011 marks the first time an FIT eight has been on the Thames in over 25 years.  

“Henley offers an opportunity to compete against the best,” Granger said earlier in the week.  “If you want to become an elite crew, you eventually have to race against the elite crews.”

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