Saturday, July 5, 2014

Keep On Hammering Those Catches: Passion And The Gentry At Henley Royal Regatta On Thames

Life, for those who embrace it to the max, is filled with literal ascendance's that spark a frisson of excitement. For the happy traveller, it may come when his plane rises from some handsome metropolis and performs seemingly for him alone a valedictory circumnavigation to the setting of his revelries; for the aquatic tribe, this moment comes when he watches his team win in a packed arena to be met with a swell of escaping anticipatory furore and the sight of the perfect boat race. As such, watching the spectacle of ankle to ass racing continues at the Henley Royal Regatta on Thames with Ridley College men's crew winning their race today. Two Ridley College crews are at Henley with women's crew racing tomorrow. Both Ridley boats are Canadian and American Schoolboy champions. Racing at the Henley on Thames differs from nearly all global rowing regattas because the course is approximately 2,240 meters or approximately twenty strokes longer than the regular 2,000 meters regatta. Two boats are allowed in each race–chosen through a random draw and closely watched by the British royalty as crews hammer down the course at full tilt within meters of one another. 

I rowed at the Henley Royal Regatta while I was a varsity oarsman at the University of Toronto. Our coach Paul Peene took four oarsmen from our Canadian Lightweight Championship eight to the UK in the heavyweight open four of the visitor's cup. Prior to the Henley Royal, we had won the heavyweight open four at Reading. In the draw at the Henley Royal, we got defending champion Imperial College as our first race, whom we dispatched with lengths open water, next was Cambridge Blue whom we also destroyed. We had some serious horse power with crew members from both Ridley and Upper Canada College on board. Racing continued day in day out. In the end we lost to University of London (GB national team) in the final. Of course, the season wasn't over. Once we returned to North America we rowed out of Hanlan Boat house in Toronto and won the Royal Canadian Henley in our varsity eight defeating Harvard by open water. Every champion was once a contender who refused to give up.

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