Quad on to Semifinals

HENLEY-ON-THAMES, U.K. – Stanford had two boats in action on the third day of the Henley Royal Regatta, with the quad advancing to the semifinals with a victory.

Racing is never easy at the Henley Royal Regatta, but despite the obstacles the Cardinal had to overcome throughout the race, they still found a way to win.

A great start by Stanford put them in the lead by a half boat length over the Quintin/CRC squad. Just before the two teams came to Temple Island, Stanford’s bow seat Reilly Hayes’ oar got caught in her unisuit, causing her blade to jackknife in the water. The lead quickly changed to a boat length in favor of Quintin/CRC.   

“They say anything can happen in the ‘lively waters’ of Henley and the quad’s race proved that to be true,” said head coach Yasmin Farooq. “Reilly was quick to recover and got her blade out clean, and all four of them did a great job of keeping their heads and getting back on track.”

Stanford collected itself with power and precision and really started to move. As the crews approached the halfway mark, the Cardinal had turned the tables and opened up their own lead by a little bit of open water.

Just when Quintin/CRC started to make another move, Stanford locked in and began to increase the lead. As the Cardinal rowed by the regatta and stewards enclosures, they hear the crowd chanting “Go Stanford!” Loud cheers from the Stanford faithful echoed throughout the regatta as Stanford crossed the finish line first with a time of 7:31. The margin of victory was 1 3/4 lengths.

“It was clear they were on a mission,” said Farooq. “Nancy (Miles) stroked a really mature race and by the 3/4 mile mark they were striking a really nice rhythm and moving the boat well.”

The victory sends the Stanford quad on to the semifinals of the Princess Grace Challenge Cup. The other three teams remaining are Molesey, Brown and Imperial College London/Tees Rowing Club (Great Britain National Team). The Cardinal will face off with Molesey, who beat Leander in the opening race. The two teams will match up at 6:40 p.m.

The varsity eight was unfortunately not able to advance in the Remenham Challenge Cup. The draw over the weekend revealed Stanford would face a common foe in Brown University. The Bears got off to a good start to gain the early advantage. The boats raced overlapped throughout the 2,100 meter course, with the margin shifting by two or three seats with each boat’s attacks. Brown crossed the finish line first with a time of 6:52, about 2/3 of a boat length over Stanford.  

“It was a great race with Brown,” said Farooq. “They successfully got the jump on us at the start and in the end that was the difference. Our boat threw attacks at them all the way down the course, but they covered the attacks and earned the win. I thought both boats really gave it their all and it was a privilege to have that race here at Henley. The last three weeks of racing and training here have been invaluable.”

Stanford returns every member of the eight that raced in England except for coxswain Naomi Cornman, who will be going to graduate school at Stanford next year. The progress the boat and its individuals made over the three extra weeks overseas gives the Cardinal an extra jolt heading into the 2015-16 season.

After the two Stanford races, two more races featured individuals with Stanford ties. Michelle Vezie ’11 raced for Imperial London and Sport Imperial against Canada’s Western Rowing Club. Vezie was a chemical engineering major at Stanford and won a national championship with the varsity eight in 2009 and second varsity eight in 2011. Now she is building solar panels while working her way towards earning a PhD in physics from Imperial College.

The Western Rowing Club, which is essentially the Canadian National Team, advanced to the semifinals with a time of 6:54, eliminating Vezie’s boat.

Signee Elizabeth Sharis raced in the quarterfinals of the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup. After picking up a victory in the first round on Thursday, Sharis stroked her boat to another impressive win over Latymer Upper School to advance to the semifinals with a time of 7:45.