PURDUE ADVANCES AT HENLEY, CLIMBS TO HISTORY'S DOORSTEP

Henley-on-Thames — On Friday night, the women from Purdue University were formally welcomed to the Henley Women’s Regatta.  Dressed to the posh standards of English praxis, the team went to The Henley Rowing & River Museum for the regatta’s welcoming ceremony for foreign crews.

They walked the hallways looking over tattered pictures of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.  They gazed at rowing shells from bygone eras hanging from the ceiling.  In all, they soaked in the history of a sport they’ve dedicated their lives to.  

Now, following the first two days at the Women’s Henley, Purdue will have the opportunity to join that history.  With a dominant performance from first stroke to finish line, the Boilermakers beat Queen’s University (Belfast, Ireland) by four lengths on the River Thames in the quarterfinals of the GP Jeffries Cup.  

Two more races await on Sunday — the semifinals versus University College Dublin (2:49 pm GMT) and, potentially, the finals (4:50 pm).  

“We’re pretty exhilarated,” said Ellen Rohlfing, the boat’s stroke seat.  “It’s awesome to keep advancing so we’re excited, but we’re also thinking, ‘OK, that’s another race down.  Let’s move on to the next one.’  It’s a lot less overwhelming to do it that way.”

Purdue finished the 1,500-meter Thames course in 5 minutes, 27 seconds.  University College Dublin, tomorrow’s opposition, advanced with a victory over Reading Rowing Club in 5:46.

“It’s important not to look ahead to the finals,” said Samantha Warner, the bow seat.  “If you don’t take it one race at a time then you can overlook strong competition.”

In today’s race, Purdue was bow-to-stern with Queen’s as the crews passed Temple Island.  Similarly to its breezy first-round win, the Boilermakers extended their lead with every stroke and controlled the entirety of the race.  A gusty crosswind stirred at the 1,000-meter mark, but left little impression on the outcome.

“You could definitely feel a difference,” said coxswain Kaitlyn Egan.  “We tried to focus on more back swing to get more drive through the wind.  We knew it was going to pick up and I could see across the water that it was coming so I was able to prepare them for it in time.”

The remainder of the race was never in question.  The crew dropped its stroke rating to conserve energy, not something it usually does.  And with that, the team of Amanda Elmore (2 seat), Emily Rhiver (3 seat), Rachel Young (4 seat), Molly Powers (5 seat), Maggie Busse (6 seat), Louisa Mattingly (7 seat), along with Egan, Warner and Rohlfing, will set forth on Sunday to live out a dream.

There is only one goal — win.  

Remember, there is no bronze awarded at Henley.  

No sliver.  

Just gold.

“We’ve had intense races before so we’re prepared,” Amanda Elmore said.  “I think tomorrow will be the same as Dad Vails because there will be two hard back-to-back races.  We’ve been training two-a-days for the last three weeks so we’re definitely prepared for this.”

STORY: Brendan F. Quinn

PHOTO: Compliments of Greg Rohfling