OTW with Matt Miller, Part VIII: Henley Friday



Henley-on-Thames, England: UVa Reaches Semifinals at Henley Royal Regatta

The Cavaliers faced another tough challenge today from the last British crew remaining in the Temple, and again UVa came out on top. Though the University of London was very quick off the line, the Cavs were able to reel them in through the middle of the piece, establishing firm control by Fawley. 

Here's Matt's view of the race from the five seat of the UVa eight:

The last remaining English crew of the Temple Cup did not go down without a fight. A poor start put us down to the University of London by a seat or two, but as we lengthened down to base rate, we gained back ground we had lost. The middle of the race is where we won it. We accomplished our goal of finding the rhythm that we were missing yesterday. It didn’t feel like we had worked very hard up to Fawley, and we continued to walk away. Like yesterday, a move put us a full length ahead. UL brought the rate up with about 400m to go, but only took a few seats. The race was tough, but another good learning experience. Tomorrow we face a very impressive Dutch crew, A.S.R. Nereus.

Other races we followed closely included Harvard frosh over Yale lights (they were even near Fawley when they passed us on our warm-up) and St. Andrews High School over Hampton School by a canvas. We’ll walk back to the enclosures to watch some racing Friday afternoon. Fully experiencing the regatta and staying off our feet are difficult to accomplish simultaneously.-MM

Tomorrow, the Hoos will face a very talented and experienced crew from ASR Nereus—a boat that tied the new course record to the Barrier in the Temple yesterday, just minutes after California's frosh eight had set it (by the way – Cal broke their own records again today to both the Barrier and Fawley, while Harvard's frosh set a new course record for overall time in their 3/4 length victory over Yale's lightweights). 

The Cavs will need to focus once again on maintaining their composure—Nereus will undoubtedly be very quick off the line, and it may be a matter of weathering the early storm well enough to once again make moves through the middle of the piece—a strong base and a good sprint have taken UVa a long way this year.

Thanks to Allen Miller for the video of the UVa men's eight coming past the hole in the wall, with the University of London trailing. For continuous updates from the course, check out the official Twitter feed of Henley Royal Regatta.

-RR

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