Bill Alden

Showing Character in Battling Through Adversity, PU Heavyweight Crews Gained From Henley Trip

ALL HANDS ON DECK: Members of the Princeton University men’s heavyweight crew program celebrate after Princeton won the Rowe Cup team points title at the Eastern Sprints in early May. Earlier this month, all three men’s heavyweight crews competed at the Henley Royal Regatta in England. While none of the boats earned titles, they acquitted themselves well at the famed competition. The men’s first varsity and second varsity 8s were each in the final eight of the Ladies Challenge Cup while the third varsity eight made the quarterfinals of the Temple Challenge Cup.(Photo by Aleka Gürel)
ALL HANDS ON DECK: Members of the Princeton University men’s heavyweight crew program celebrate after Princeton won the Rowe Cup team points title at the Eastern Sprints in early May. Earlier this month, all three men’s heavyweight crews competed at the Henley Royal Regatta in England. While none of the boats earned titles, they acquitted themselves well at the famed competition. The men’s first varsity and second varsity 8s were each in the final eight of the Ladies Challenge Cup while the third varsity eight made the quarterfinals of the Temple Challenge Cup. (Photo by Aleka Gürel)

As three Princeton University men’s heavyweight crews prepared to compete in the Henley Royal Regatta in England, training went well on both sides of the Atlantic.

Prior to heading across the pond, Princeton got in some intense work on Lake Carnegie for two weeks in mid-June.

“It was awesome; it was a different kind of training,” said Princeton heavyweight head coach Greg Hughes.

“We took them out of the spring combinations. It was lots of small boats, coxless 4s and pairs. We had nice weather, great water, and no distractions. It was like having a training camp; we did a couple of rows a day. It was going back to basics, putting 8s into two 4s and getting competition that way. It is great having the ability to do that on the lake.”

Once over in England, the Princeton rowers got in some good work on the Thames River.

“It is a pretty great place to row,” said Hughes. “The weather was fantastic. It was warm and dry. The water was calm and we didn’t have any real wind. The change of venue is exciting. It is a new location and a new course; it heightens the senses.”

But things got rough as one of the Tigers’ key performers couldn’t go on the water.

“We had one setback,” said Hughes, noting that he decided to give freshman stroke Julian Goldman double duty, keeping him in that spot on the second varsity 8 and then replacing Master on the top boat. “Tim Masters, the stroke on varsity suffered a significant back injury five or six days before the start of racing. The team really rallied. We shuffled guys around and did doubles to get training in.”

With its lineup intact, the Princeton third varsity 8 performed well in the Temple Challenge Cup at the regatta, topping MIT and Liverpool University before losing by 2/3 of a length to Université de Lyon, France in the quarterfinals.

“They did a great job, they had a good chunk of freshmen, there were two seniors and three or four freshmen in the boat,” said Hughes of the third varsity. “They got to race in a different environment and they did really well.”

The Princeton men’s heavyweight second varsity 8 competed in the Ladies Challenge Cup and fell by 3/4 of a length to the Leander Club of England in the final eight.

“Those guys really stepped up; we wanted to race our spring lineups over there,” said Hughes. “It was a good, gutsy race. Leander is a national training boat for Great Britain so it is very good.”

With Goldman stepping up in his dual role, the first varsity gave Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) champion Washington all it could handle in the quarterfinal stage of the Ladies Challenge Cup. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead over the five-time reigning national champion Huskies and moved to a half-length advantage at one point in the 2,112-meter race. Showing its experience, Washington overcame the Tigers to win by 1 length.

“That was awesome, it was a gutsy, feisty race, particularly with everything that had gone on during the week,” said Hughes. “It was Julian’s second race of the day and his first with the varsity on a pretty big stage.”

Hughes was happy to see his Class of 2015 rowers end their Princeton careers on the Henley stage.

“It was great for them to get another race and spend time together as a group,” said Hughes.

“Being at Henley as a college crew at least once is a big goal. It is a reward for the program’s progress. We have made big strides and the seniors are a big part of that. It is much different than when they came in and they were major contributors.”

It was also a great experience for the program’s younger rowers. “For the returners, four more weeks of training and racing makes a big difference,” said Hughes. “It builds the team a little bit more.”

In Hughes’ view, the program has a foundation of character in place on which it can build.

“They are tough, resilient and they are racers,” said Hughes. “They can have obstacles in front of them and overcome that. The guys are going to step up and fight. That is important in rowing. It is an outdoors sport and you face a lot of challenges. That (Masters’ injury) was not a challenge you could visualize and the team really stepped up. I feel bummed for Tim; he was a really great teammate and a really great contributor. He is going to missed; he went out with a bang in the (Eastern) Sprints and IRAs.”

Written by: Bill Alden