HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England – On another perfect day on the River Thames, the Northeastern men's rowing team saw both its crews advance to the quarterfinal of the Temple Challenge Cup with convincing victories, setting up an all-Huskies showdown on Friday at the Henley Royal Regatta.
For the second straight day, the Northeastern 'A' boat got out to a healthy advantage, allowing to crew to lower its stroke rate near the middle of the race and cruise to a length-and-one-third victory over Oxford Brookes University 'B'. The Huskies' 'B' boat, meanwhile, found itself in a tight race against a talented crew from the Netherlands early, trailing a third of the way through the race before Northeastern's speed and power allowed the Huskies to overtake A.G.S.R. Gyas and ultimately prevail by two-and-one-quarter lengths.
The victories setup a Northeastern 'A' vs. Northeastern 'B' quarterfinal on Friday at a time to be determined, with the winner advancing to Saturday's semifinal against the victor of the Brown and Newcastle University 'A' race. The race can be streamed live by clicking here.
"It's really special when you're able to advance more than one crew this far into the regatta, so for us to be 25% of the boats in this event is really special and we don't take that for granted," said assistant coach
Justin Jones. "We're looking at it as a great opportunity to celebrate Northeastern tomorrow."
"I know the guys in the second boat are eager to go out and push the guys in the top boat, and the guys in the top boat are eager to go out and give their best effort to make the whole pack stronger."
Northeastern's 'A' crew got out to a solid start in its second race of the regatta, taking length-and-a-quarter lead at Fawley. The advantage allowed the Huskies to decrease its stroke rate while still separating itself from Oxford Brookes University 'B,' winning by nearly a length-and-a-half at 6:25.
"Our varsity rowed a very composed piece," said Jones. "They're one of the best crews in this event, hands down. They were able to start well and get into a rhythm that they knew would wear their opponent down, and they were able to stick to that so they had enough of a lead about halfway through they were able to take a deep breathe, relax, lengthen it out and get through the finish sharp and low to conserve energy for the big race tomorrow."
The Huskies' 'B' crew saw the Dutch crew from A.G.S.R. Gyas take a quarter-of-a-length lead through Fawley before Northeastern turned it on midway through the race to take the lead and never look back, consistently extending the margin through the remainder of the race to win by more than two lengths at 6:25.
"Our guys did a great job sticking to the race plan and committing to moving the boat the way they've been training to, and they grinded their way through so that by the end they had a good margin and were able to feel a hard fought victory on this course."
Jones, currently in his fourth season on the staff, was Northeastern's team captain and sat in the stroke seat of the varsity crew that competed at Henley in 2013 and reached the final of the Ladies' Challenge Plate before returning to the River Thames for the first time as a coach in 2019.
"It's the coolest thing," Jones said. "To be able to come back six years later as a coach gives me a level of perspective that I cherish. I know how the guys are feeling as they navigate this regatta, and I know it's something that is going to stick with them for the rest of their lives."
Boatings, Timetable and Results
