Out of the 16 crews who’ve managed to make it to the Thursday of HRR ’22, 9 of them are from abroad- a testament to the level of rowing here in Henley, even in the quarter finals. After many slighlty more evident races today, this has narrowed the field down to only 8 which is sure to provide more entertaining races in the last round of heats tomorrow, before semis and finals to conclude this year’s Henley,
USR Triton NED v University of Washington
After beating Edinburgh A, the University of Washington were placed against the U.S.R. Triton crew from the Netherlands who were seeded into the quarter finals. It seemed the Washington crew, known for their aggressive rhythm, got away with a cleaner start and held a commanding lead throughout the race. They gained a 1/3 of a length lead before they barrier, despite rating 4 pips lower, and continued to extend their lead while lowering their rate as the race progressed.
Yale University USA v University of California Berkeley USA
In this race of international crews, at the end of the island both emerged equal with times and with rate, at 42 SPM. However this Yale crew took the lead coming out of the barrier and began to dominate, starting with a 2 length lead and extending this to 3 1/2 lengths despite rating much lower. Going past the hole in the wall the strength of the Yale crew was on full display, as they managed to maintain a 3 length lead whilst rating 10 pips lower than the UC Berkeley crew, at 26 vs 36 coming down to the finish line.
Previews
ASR Nereus v Brown University USA
On paper this race seems like it will favour Brown, after they set a time which was 13 seconds faster than the Nereus crew in today’s racing. However the Nereus crew were subject to much worse conditions, which comprised a headwind and both thunder and lightening. Given the high caliber of both of these international crews this race is sure to provide more excitiement on Friday.
GSR Aegir NED v University of London ‘A’
Setting quite similar times to the barrier, with only four seconds separating these two crews, this quarter final could swing either way. However looking at the racing from today, it seems that the Dutch crew were pushed more by their opposition to their line, gaining only a 1 1/4 length lead and yet they were slower than the UL crew by 4 seconds. So it seems UL have a slight advantage if they manage to remain composed moving into the final days of Henley.
Yale University USA v University of Washington USA
If they weren’t on the same side of the draw these might be two crews who could have faced eachother on Sunday, however the stewards have given us the excitement of this race on Friday instead. Both of these crews have set the fastest times of the day so far being the only crews to go sub 7.10, with Yale at 7.04 and UW at 7.07 even in rather comfortable races.
About The Author
