Princeton Women Fall To Reigning World Champs At Henley Royal Regatta
July 01, 2011 | Women's Rowing - Open
The NCAA champion Princeton varsity eight was the best collegiate boat in the nation throughout 2011. The Tigers got to compete against the best boat in the world Friday at the Royal Henley Regatta. The U.S. national team defeated Princeton to advance to the semifinals of the Royal Henley Regatta.
The U.S. national boat showed its dominance early, as can be seen by its increasing margins throughout the race. The U.S. crew, which topped the field by more than 3.5 seconds to win the 2010 World Championship grand final in New Zealand, will take on the Oxford Brookes University and Molesey Boat Club in Saturday's semifinal race.
The quarterfinal loss concludes a spectacular season for the boat, which went undefeated in the regular season and swept both the EAWRC final and the NCAA final; the only other Tiger boat to achieve that distinction was the 2006 crew, which is considered one of the greatest in NCAA history.
The 2011 Princeton varsity eight also became only the second Tiger boat to compete in the prestigious Remenham Challenge Cup competition, which draws the highest level of women's 8+ crews in the world. The first Princeton crew to compete in the challenge was in 2004, and that crew advanced to the finals.
Of course, it didn't face the defending world champion in the first round.
"We will do our best," said 2011 National Coach of the Year Lori Dauphiny before the race. "It is an honor to go up against the fastest boat in the world."
Princeton might not have had the fastest boat in the world; it just had the fastest boat in collegiate racing.