The two outstanding crews of this regatta were Imperial College (London) and St Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire). Imperial chose to enter the Club 8s this year (someone explained to me this was because there were post-grads on board, but that would not have made Imperial ineligible for College 8s so there must be another reason), after being rudely denied a trip to the finals and possible win in the College 8s last year by the University of Wisconsin which (legally, it should be admitted) entered an event well below its class. Imperial was the fastest eight at Henley this year, winning the Club 8s in style.
The Open 8s event was of a lower quality. Most of the crews there would not have looked out of place in the Club 8s. The final was between the Irish internationals racing as University College Dublin and Temple University (Philadelphia). Temple could have legitimately entered College 8s because it is only a second-tier US collegiate program. It took a gamble by upgrading itself two whole levels, and this gamble nearly paid off (especially as Imperial would have trounced it had Temple entered Club 8s). Temple led the final from the start until the last few strokes, when UCD put its nose in front.
With crews like Imperial and Temple not entered in the College 8s event, the field was much weakened. On the whole, the standard in this event took a huge drop from previous years. That said, the four semi-finalists were all excellent crews. In one semi-final, Nottingham University raced its own second eight - proof that there is a program with its act together. In the other semi-final, Newcastle University eliminated Emmanuel College (Cambridge). Emma was the fastest crew in Cambridge this year. None of the fastest Oxford crews attended. Newcastle has built itself quite a strong program, which is nice to see. Last year, Newcastle won the College 4s. This year it decided to push up a level to the 8s, but Nottingham proved too strong in the end.
In School 8s, this was the first time I am aware that a top US program has come over to Henley. It was well overdue. Lady Eleanor Holles has the only good school program in the UK and has been winning at Henley for years. It has been a pleasure to watch, but some competition has been needed. LEH met its match in St Paul's School, which eliminated it in the semi-finals, both crews breaking the course record in the process and setting the fastest times of the regatta until Imperial raced in the Club 8s final. In the final of this event, SPS had an even closer race with Shandon (Ireland).
Not having any Olympic-bound crews here was understandable given the proximity of the games. What I don't understand is why no top American collegiate programs came. In most years, they don't come because Women's Henley takes place less than a week after US collegiate national championships. But this year, Henley fell later, and the crews easily would have had enough time to fly over and get acclimated. So where was Brown, this year's champion? Brown dethroned Princeton - undefeated the previous four years and second this year. In all this time, the Princeton women have never come to Henley. And if they can't send their first varsity heavyweight boats, then what about their 2Vs or novices or lightweights, just like the men do?
The other hot topic for the week was the various changes to the rules made by the Stewards. Most of these were silly. One rule, of course, will always remain, though: rule X, which permits the Stewards to do whatever they want to any entries, including scratching them, without explanation.
The top event this year appeared to be the Ladies Plate - some of those crews should definitely have entered the Grand, especially considering this is an Olympic year and that means the international heavyweight crews haven't entered. In 1992, most international lightweight crews and top collegiate heavyweight varsities entered the Grand, which was won by the University of London. Heck - in 1985, which was NOT an Olympic year, Harvard dared to enter the Grand and won. But this year few dared.
Anyway, a Goldie crew with five of this year's Cambridge heavyweight Blue Boat and three and the cox from Cambridge's second eight, triumphed in the Ladies with a surprisingly easy win over a semi-scratch Leander crew in the final. In the semis, Goldie had a close tussle with the US lightweight 8+ from Boston, the lightweights putting up a spirited challenged in the headwind. More notable, perhaps, was Cambridge's quarterfinal win over Princeton, the US collegiate champions. This is especially interesting considering that a more-or-less equivalent Princeton crew came to Henley last year and defeated an Oxford-Leander crew which in theory should have been equivalent to this year's Goldie crew (the verdict last year was by several lengths, with Princeton winding down at the end). Well rowed, Cambridge! Meanwhile, Leander, a headwind, and a last-minute substitution due to the wife of one of the crew going into labor, had knocked off the UK lightweights from Nottingham in that semi-final. The Princeton lightweights, bumped up to the Ladies by the Stewards, succumbed to Georgetown's heavyweights and an enormously ferocious headwind in the first round.
The new rules sent the Thames Cup to a low standard this year. The Temple saw some better crews and some greater mismatches. The Yale freshmen heavyweights won in the end, but had some close races along the way. Notably, Yale had a tight one with the University of Wales College Cardiff. UWCC has been strong for years, but this was truly one of the better crews it has produced. UWCC beat Eton (forced by the rules out of the PE and into the Temple this year) when Eton failed to deal with the conditions on Thursday and crabbed - certain death against a good crew like UWCC. The performance which caught my eye this week was Newcastle University's. This is an up-and-coming program for both men and women, but I hadn't thought it had quite arrived yet. Nevertheless, this was a certifiably good crew, and on Thursday it eliminated Princeton's second varsity heavyweights, whom I had tipped to win the whole thing. Newcastle's wins ran out on Saturday against the University of London freshmen.
At this point, I should put in a shameless plug for one crew which did not come to Henley: Phillips Exeter Academy. Exeter was the fastest school crew in the US this year, but did not come because someone in the crew was too old to make the age cut-off for the Princess Elizabeth Cup, and the new rules did not make a trip over here to race in the Temple Cup worthwhile. This is the same rule which kept Eton, Britain's fastest school crew, from entering the PE, but since the trip was just down the road it was worth Eton's money coming to race in the Temple. But the Stewards need to decide if the PE should be a schoolboy event (as it is billed) or a junior one.
But, judging what happened this week, it probably would have made no difference if Exeter and Eton had entered the PE. Brentwood College School (Vancouver, Canada) dominated. In the quarterfinals, it walloped Hampton - the second fastest British school crew after Eton, and therefore the favorite to win the PE - by 3.5 lengths and made it look easy. The final was won by the very polite British verdict of "easily." The time was only three seconds off the record, and these were not good conditions this year.
Oh, I nearly forgot: the Grand. IC Queen's Tower won this, besting the lightweight eights from Germany and the Netherlands. The time was faster than Goldie's in the Ladies, but conditions had changed much, apparently. It would have been interesting if some of the crews in the Ladies had shown the guts Imperial did and gone for the Grand. Well done, Imperial (men and women)!
In the smaller boats, highlights included the Prince Philip (elite 4+s), won by the German squad, which beat the US (which had beaten the British). Some good racing there. And in the Stewards (elite 4-s), four from the British lightweight 8+, doubling up, beat four from the Goldie crew which won the Ladies. With the absence of Redgrave and Pinsent from the Goblets, the Austrian pair cruised to victory. One of them had been in the winning Goblets pair of 1990 - the last time someone other than Redgrave and Pinsent won the event.
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