History at Henley  |  Northeastern Oarsmen at Henley

HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England — Northeastern rowing returns to the world stage in early July to participate in the Henley Royal Regatta. The 2019 appearance will be Northeastern's eighth in the heralded event, and first since 2013. England's famed River Thames has provided the storied NU program with some of its most memorable moments. Here, we take a look back at the Huskies' history at Henley.

Northeastern's first trip to Henley-on-Thames came in the team's inaugural season of 1965. After receiving support from university president Asa S. Knowles and Board of Trustees member Chandler Hovey, coach Ernie Arlett whittled a try-out group of 100 young men – all of whom had never rowed before – and created one of the great surprises in collegiate rowing.

Labeled "the New York Mets of the college rowing world" for a group whose love of the sport supposedly far outbalanced its talent, the Huskies defeated 33 of the 34 teams they faced in 1965 before a 12th place finish at the IRAs in Syracuse, N.Y. The Cinderella season led to an invite to Henley, where the Huskies were set to compete in the highly-competitive Thames Challenge Cup. To put the newborn program's invite into perspective, Harvard had competing crews for 62 years before its first invite to Henley in 1914.

In the program's first international competition, the Huskies failed to trail at any juncture en route to a length-and-three-quarters victory over Queen's University of Belfast, quickly garnering praise from the rowing-crazed English fans that lined the course. Northeastern showed poise and experience the following race, but was eliminated with a three-quarters length loss to eventual champion Cornell, a team that, at the time, hadn't lost a race in more than two years.

Seven years would pass before the Huskies returned to the royal regatta, but the program proved to be one of the best in the world in 1972 and 1973, anchored by a pair of Eastern Sprint titles and matching Henley invites.

After placing second in the Grand Challenge Cup by two-thirds of a length to the Russian Olympic crew in 1972, the heavyweight eight of Northeastern returned eager for retribution the following year. In a race dubbed by Sports Illustrated as the only U.S. championship competed for on foreign soil, the Eastern Sprint champion Huskies prevailed over the IRA champion Wisconsin Badgers by one length in the semifinal of the Grand Challenge Cup. The next day, Northeastern was defeated by Trud Kolomna, known as the USSR's World Crew, as the Russians sailed to a three-lengths victory over the depleted Huskies. The program failed to go home empty handed, however. Northeastern also had an alumni four that won the Prince Philip Cup and set a record that lasted for 14 years.

Arlett, who was born in Henley-on-Thames, retired in 1977. His title was then passed to Buzz Congram, who took the program back to the banks of the river Thames in 1978. Northeastern submitted its freshman eight to the Thames Cup, where the team defeated the Norwich Rowing Club of England and the Brentwood College of Canada before bowing out to the Potomac Boat Club from Washington, D.C.

Henley again welcomed Northeastern in both 1988 and 1989. The team had picked up the nickname "The Great Eight of '88," as it had defeated Harvard for the first time that year. Northeastern was entered into the fours plus coxswain Prince Philip Challenge Cup as well as the Grand Challenge Cup. The Huskies defeated Pomfret Academy in its first race of the Prince Philip Cup, but lost to Syracuse University the following race. As for the "Great Eight," Northeastern drew a formidable opponent in the Hungarian National Team and was eliminated by one-half length.

After missing the 1988 Henley as a member of the Olympic eight that won a bronze medal at Seoul, South Korea, Jeff McLaughlin returned to stroke Northeastern's four in the 150th rendition of the Henley in 1989. Flanked by four members of the team that participated in the 1988 Grand Challenge Cup, Northeastern led Levski Spartak of Bulgaria at the first race marker, but was bested by three lengths in the end.
 
It wasn't until nearly 15 years later that the Huskies returned to the River Thames, but they returned in a big way in its first appearance at Henley under head coach John Pojednic. Sending two varsity crews and two alumni crews to the regatta, the Northeastern faithful watched as the first varsity advanced all the way to the championship race for the 2013 Ladies' Challenge Plate. After dispatching Galatasaray Spor Kulübü of Turkeyby three-quarters of a length in the quarterfinal race, the Huskies continued their hot racing the following day against the Under-23 British national team, rowing under the name Robert Gordon University and Aberdeen Boat Club, winning by three and a half lengths to reach the final race at Henley for the first time in 40 years.
 
Led by coxswain Connor Wortley with current assistant coach Justin Jones in the stroke seat, Northeastern took on Great Britain's number two national-team crew in the final race at the 164th Henley. Northeastern started fast and controlled its opponent for 2000 meters and in a standard race, that would have been enough. But the longer course at Henley gave the British crew the extra 112 meters it needed to edge out the victory.
 
The race proved a remarkable one, if bittersweet, for the Huskies. The Northeastern eight cruised past Fawley — the three-quarter mile mark — in 2:55, a time that set a new event record at the time. The Huskies' overall race time bested the nearly-two-decades-old Ladies' Plate record by nearly four seconds.Just a day after defeating the Under-23 British national team by a wide margin — three and one-half lengths — the Huskies lost by just a canvas in one of the closest races of the entire five-day regatta.
 
Northeastern, making its eighth appearance in England's famed regatta, will be represented in competition by two varsity crews. NUHuskies.com will feature exclusive coverage, including race recaps, interviews, and day-by-day highlight videos. Follow along on Twitter and Instagram throughout the week.
 
A list of Northeastern crews at the Henley Royal Regatta

1965 Thames Cup
Roger Borggaard
Vincent Goglia
Gary Kilpatrick
Richard Linck
Donald Moodie
Robert O'Loughlin
Glen Schuhmacher
Tom Waite
C: Dave Hingston

1972 Grand Challenge Cup
C: Frank Leahy
S: Calvin Coffey
7: Pete Karassik
6: John Maslowski
5: Carl Nordstrom
4: Dick Wennersten
3: Kent MacKinnon
2: Bill Backman
B: Jeff Marshall

1973 Prince Philip Challenge Cup
C: Brian Chisholm
S: Dick Wennersten
3: Bill Miller
2: Larry Gluckman
B: Kent MacKinnon

1973 Grand Challenge Cup
C: Frank Leahy
S: Calvin Coffey
7: Geof Marshall
6: John Maslowski
5: Peter Karassik
4: Chris Meehan
3: John Irving
2: Bill Backman
B: Brian O'Connor

1978 Thames Cup
C: Tim Maguire
S: Tom Kiefer
7: Dave Lowden
6: Jim Cushwa
5: George Murray
4: Jim Noonan
3: Bryan Fontaine
2: Bill Sussman
B: Ken Stone

1978 Grand Challenge Cup
C: Bob Neckes
S: Tim Clifford
7: Rick Donovan
6: Steve Pritchard
5: Mike Connolly
4: Bob Haffeman
3: Bill Fritz
2: Pete Tardif
B: Toby Morse

1988 Grand Challenge Cup
C: Tim Lenhard
S: Stephen Potter
7: Mike Porterfield
6: Rob Baker
5: Ron Korb
4: Chris Fibbe
3: Pat Manning
2: Ed Novicelli
B: Ransom Duncan

1988 Prince Philip Challenge Cup
C: Amy-Beth Boleski
S: Al Wells
3: John Vickery
2: Brian Eatough
B: Tom Callahan

1989 Prince Philip Challenge Cup
C: Tim Lenhard
S: Jeff McLaughlin
3: Ron Korb
2: Chris Fibbe
B: Ransom Duncan

2013 Ladies' Challenge Plate
Northeastern 'A'
C: Connor Wortley
S: Justin Jones
7: Trevor Weaser
6: Cameron Buchan
5: Max Montpetit
4: Kyle Erlandson
3: Sean Crowley
2: Riordan Morrell
B: Tyler Underhill

Northeastern 'B'
C: Zachary Williamson
S: Francisco Mendes
7: Eric Jackson
6: Eric Winkert
5: Svetislav Pejcic
4: Alexander Greene
3: Matej Herega
2: Gregory Burke
B: Jack Stein