Review
Once again it was another cracking day of racing the the Island Challenge cup with some very fast crews being knocked out before the weekend.
Brown University vs Nereus
Both these crews are very classy and the fact that they are meeting on a Friday shows just how high the level of competition in the Island already is. Both Crews went hard off the start and Brown only just started to push there bows clear approaching the barrier. Brown though was able to overpower Nereus and broke clear by Fawley, opening a clear lead. The eventual distance of victory shows that Brown has a lot of power in their crew and will be full of confidence having been able to beat a very fast crew from Nereus with relative ease.
Yale University vs Washington University
A proper US derby between two of the premier rowing programs in the world. As you would expect both crews went of the start hard and fast. Just past the barrier yale started to gain an advantage over Washington. Through Fawley Yale continued to be pushed hard by Washington by slowly edged out to a three-quarter length lead. Washington continued to attack but couldn’t close down the advantage that Yale had managed to build and would eventually come across the line over two lengths down.
Oxford Brookes University vs University California, Berkeley
Possibly one of the most anticipated races of the day the Brookes University Crew quickly showed their raw power gaining an advantage right from the start. While Oxford Brookes steadily increased their lead to a length Cal Berkeley hung on and fought hard to maintain contact all the way to the enclosures. Brookes steadily reduced their rate towards the end of the race despite Cal remaining in striking distance almost all the way to the line. The confidence that the Oxford Brookes crew showed in this race clearly indicates that they feel comfortable in seeing themselves as a clear favourite in fighting for the win on Sunday.
Preview
Oxford Brookes vs Brown University
We have finally reached the Saturday and as expected we have some cracking races to decide who will be in the final on Sunday. Oxford Brookes vs Brown University will be a great race with the two crews both having very different styles and both quick off the start.
University of London vs Yale University
UL vs Yale though I expect will be the race to watch as I would expect them to closely matched all the way down the course. I believe though that Brookes and UL will likely come out on top over their US competition to set up a classic Henley final of Brookes vs UL.
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