Worcester, Mass. and Henley-on-Thames, England – July 1, 2009 – A pair of WPI boat crews performed well at the opening round of competition at the world-renowned Henley River Regatta in England on Wednesday but narrowly missed their opportunity to advance into the next round of races. It was the first time the university had competed in the internationally known crew event. WPI was one of just 27 American institutions participating this year.
WPI's eight- and four-person boats rowed in tight races on Wednesday, each coming within a length and a half of winning their opening round races. Competing in the Temple Cup race, the varsity eight was narrowly defeated by Brown University. After the completion of 12 of the 16 first-round Temple Cup races, Brown, with 6 minutes, 22 seconds, had the fastest time. WPI's trailing margin of 1 1/2 lengths was the second smallest.
In the Prince Albert Challenge Cup, WPI's four-person boat lost to Reading University in England. WPI and Yale University were the only two American boats to qualify for the 16-team competition. Both the Temple Cup and the Prince Albert Challenge Cup races will conclude on Sunday, July 5.
On Thursday, Corey Stephens (Douglas, Mass.) and Maxwell French (Harwinton, Conn.) will race as a two-man team in the Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup, continuing WPI's historic participation in the regatta.
Now in its 160th year, the Henley Royal Regatta features 468 boats from 15 countries. WPI's appearance wraps up a two-week trip to England that featured racing on the 2012 Olympic course and winning performances at the Reading Town Regatta. WPI, coached by Larry Noble, finished a program-best second at the New England Championships this spring and last October performed well at the historic Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.
The WPI varsity eight rowers are Tobin McGee (Rye, N.Y.), Scott Gary (Lubbock, Texas), Hank Moore (Jaffrey, N.H.), Ben Johnson (Northford, Conn.), Connor McGrath (Troy, N.Y.)., Sebastien Cohn (Orinda, Calif.), Arthur Gager (Kennebunk, Maine), Andrew Sandefer (New Orleans, La.) and coxswain Bethany Bouchard (Nashua, N.H.).
The varsity four are Nick Vitello (Tolland, Conn.), Ricky Holak (Windham, N.H.), Jeff Onderdonk (Colchester, Conn.), Zack Theoharidis (Sedgwick, Maine) and coxswain Brenna Colleary (Southboro, Mass.).
For more information:
