Prep Catches Crab, But Grabs Bull By Horns

Henley-on-Thames, England — Philadelphia's St. Joseph’s Prep’s five-race quest to reclaim the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup it won 11 years ago was nearly derailed a few minutes after it began on Wednesday.

A boat-stopping crab just over 600 meters into today’s opening-round race against King’s College (Chester, England) sent shockwaves through the Prep’s varsity eight.  It would prove only a hiccup, though, as the Hawks cooly recovered.  

After watching King’s pass its fledgling boat following the crab, the Prep regained the lead and ultimately won by 1 1/4 lengths to advance to the second round at the Royal Henley Regatta.

“It was a credit to the coxswain and the crew that they got their act back together, got control of the race and rowed within themselves to finish the race,” said Prep head coach Jim Glavin.  “However, they can’t afford to do that again.

“I told them that it happens — everybody crabs in a race sooner or later.  The problem is, the things we were doing in the race at that point were making the boat go fast, but also putting us in a precarious position in terms of the potential for a crab.  Then it happened.”

The Hawks held a 1 1/2 length advantage over King’s before catching the crab and finished the 2,112-meter course in 6 minutes, 49 seconds.

“These are young guys and that could be the cause,” Glavin said.  “They were trying to react to the wind in a way that was reactionary instead of technically sound.  The good news is that they did it today and they won’t do it again.  I told them, ‘If this is Monopoly, you just used your get out of jail free card.”

St. Joseph’s Prep will line up against the Shrewsbury School, which topped Winchester College by 2 1/4 lengths in 6:59, in Thursday’s second round.

“It’s a really good competition, but I still think we can compete,” Glavin said.

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Malvern Prep, another Philadelphia-area high school, will also be in action on Thursday.  Coach Craig Hoffman has two boats entered in the Fawley Challenge Cup and his "B" quad will take on the Yarm School in Day 2 of the Royal Henley Regatta.

Malvern's senior quad, coming off five straight Stotesbury Cup Regattas championships, will face the winner of Canottieri Sebino Lovere (Italy) and Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club (Scotland) on Friday.

Malvern’s “B” quad was able to qualify to compete for the Fawley Cup by finishing in the top eight out of 61 boats looking to advance in time trials.  Four U.S. crews were unable to advance in qualifying, including the quad from St. Joseph’s Prep. 

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