The men's crews departed yesterday morning for the next two weeks to compete in the renowned Henley Royal Regatta in England.
The heavyweight varsity and junior varsity crews will return to Dartmouth on July 7. The lightweight varsity and second varsity team left earlier in the week to compete in additional races.
"Next to the Olympic Games and the World Championships, the Henley Royal Regatta is probably the world's most prestigious crew race," Coach Scott Armstrong said. "There are events in all boats and in all levels. American University teams are well suited to go over and win a trophy."
"It is really exciting," co-Captain Tom Gilmore '96 said. "The shore is about 10 feet off your blades and people line the course. There are yachts lining the course with full bands playing and people ... screaming at you ... to screw up or crash."
The heavyweights and lightweights have alternated years in which they attended the race in previous years, Armstrong said. The last time the heavyweights went was in 1992. The lightweights went in 1993 and 1994.
This year marks the first time the heavyweights and the lightweights have gone together, Armstrong said.
The lightweights and JV heavyweights will compete in the Temple Challenge Cup. The lightweight team has also competed this week in the Reading Regatta. The heavyweight varsity crew will compete in the Ladies Challenge Plate.
"[The Ladies Plate] is the second tier event," Gilmore said.
The main event is the Grand Challenge Cup which is held for national teams, Gilmore said.
"The best rowing programs from around the world get put in the Ladies Plate," he said.
Because of the Big Green's strong reputation as a school, the team was fortunate to be exempt from the time trials, Gilmore said.
"Still, we will be missing a good 13 days of school," he said.
The race is held in "knockout" format in which teams compete one-on-one and the loser is eliminated from the race, Armstrong said.
"In the last four years, we have won some races," Armstrong said. "We have never completely been the winner of an event but we have won some races and advanced pretty close to the finals."
Armstrong said he expects the team to race well despite being on unfamiliar waters and racing against unknown teams.
"Unlike the regular season where we compete against crews we are familiar with, at Henley we race against crews we don't know anything about," he said. "There are crews from all over the world. We have no idea who is going to be over there, but I believe that the varsity has the potential to win it all."
"It is kind of up in the air," Gilmore said. "It is not like regular season where we know what to expect."
The only other collegiate crews competing at Henley are Princeton, Navy and Georgetown.
The team will face stiff competition, Gilmore said.
"The problem is that we are going to face boats from Cambridge and Oxford with guys who just missed the Olympic cutoffs," he said. "The last time the Dartmouth heavyweights went in '92 they had a great team but ended up getting out in the first round because they drew eight guys who just didn't make the US Olympic team. These were the 9 to 16 ranked guys."
"It is definitely luck of the draw," Gilmore said. "We could draw the best crew team in the first round or make it to the finals. It is definitely a different style of racing."
"No one knows what to expect," he said. "As the third biggest crew event in the world it has a huge following."
