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.

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