GRP Goes to England.

By Luke Rein

Henley on Thames, Buckinghamshire, England

After a year of oscillating highs and lows, Green Racing Project’s trip to Henley Royal Regatta was envisioned as a way for the high performance rowing program to capitalize on 15 months of hard, mostly self-gauged work with an excursion to one of the world’s most prestigious regattas.

Of course, that was not the case.

Of the four boats entered, two - the US Rowing Summer National Championships winning women’s double and lightweight double - were forced to remain in Vermont due to COVID concerns. The two remaining entries, men’s double (Alexander Hedge, stroke, and Jacob Plihal, bow) and men’s quadruple sculls (from stroke to bow: Dominique Williams, Luke Rein, Lucas Bellows, and Mark Couwenhoven) traveled to Henley with coach Troy Howell, hurdling uncertainty at every corner. With the exception of Williams, this would be each athlete’s first time competing at Henley.

Upon the team’s arrival, boats, oars, and ergs were secured from team partners Hudson and Concept 2, and the team set to work making themselves familiar with the unique racing layout at Henley.

Held on the River Thames approximately 40 miles upstream from London, Henley Royal Regatta is unique among rowing events for its two boat elimination style racing, unusual length of 2112 meters, and a racecourse that, lacking buoys, is delineated by parallel wooden “booms” running the entire length of the racecourse. With no buoys to separate competitors, clashes between oars are common, and with the edges of the venue defined by floating beams rather than buoys, erring too far away from one’s competition can be as disastrous as getting too close.

The quad on a training day composed of Dominique Williams, Luke Rein, Lucas Bellows, and Mark Couwenhoven (Photo: All Mark One).

Racing for the men’s quad would begin on Thursday in the round of 16 with a draw against Hinksey Sculling School and Exeter University composite. The double’s first race would take place in Friday’s round of 8 in an event teeming with Olympic talent from Team GB, The Netherlands, and Irish Olympic champions McCarthy & O’Donovan.

Despite a food poisoning scare and last minute lineup changes, the men’s quad was in top form when they took to the water on Thursday afternoon. With a revised lineup (stroke to bow) of Rein, Hedge, Bellows, and Couwenhoven, final adjustments and warmup went smoothly, as overcast skies and light drizzle contributed to a comfortable Northeast Kingdom racing atmosphere. Moods changed quickly, however, when a quick start and early lead was absorbed by one, then a second crab, allowing Hinksey et al. to pass the Sprigs and open a 15 second lead while the team sorted themselves out. Playing catchup, Green Racing Project was able to bridge most of the gap between the crews, but ended up 4 seconds short of the victory they needed to progress to the next day’s round of racing. A very challenging day to be a cedar sprig.

The double of Jacob Plihal and Alexander Hedge (Photo: All Mark One).

Friday racing saw the men’s double face off against Oxford Brookes, leading them from the starting line to The Barrier, one of the course’s historic landmarks, before wash from the passing yachts began to take their toll on the Green Racing Project. By the halfway point, the GRP lead had slipped, and the second half of the race was an unenviable battle to make back time against the British entry. At the finish line, though, it was clear that Green Racing Project’s competition at Henley was over for the year.

With a newly liberated schedule, the team was able to take in some of the sights and watch the racing, but nothing replaced the reality of being knocked out much earlier than anticipated. In that sense, the regatta was immensely valuable - a reminder that anything can happen on race day, especially when race day is 3200 miles from home. Next time, hopefully, it won’t be happening to Green Racing Project.