Men's Rowing: Royal Henley Regatta Blog - June 24
6/24/2022 10:51:00 AM | Men's Rowing, Drexel Athletics
Drexel men's rowing is currently in England preparing for te Royal Henley Regatta. Throughout the trip, student-athletes describe their experiences across the Atlantic in their own words.
Day 1 - Lake Watson - Sophomore - Lexington, Ky.
The day began like any other day in University City. Woke up at 5:15 a.m. for practice on the Schuylkill at 6:00 a.m. The boats got some steady state and 30 stroke shots in, soaking up the last row of the 2022 season on our home course. After practicing it was time to head back home and get everything packed for the trip across the pond. With the help of a cold brew from Starbucks I headed to the DAC to meet up with the team and get on the bus to go to JFK airport.
Before I knew it, we were 35,000 feet in the air traveling a little under 600 mph, just a tad bit faster than we do in a boat. After a nice microwaveable pasta and some apple juice from the cart, I buttoned my neck pillow up and tried my best to sleep. The six-ish hours on the plan was just about as good as you'd expect any red eye to England would be.
We landed in England and somehow time traveled five hours ahead. This, mixed with the minimal sleep I was able to get on the plane, made for an interesting start to my morning. I was able to get some coffee in the airport and let's just say I'll stick to the cold brew back in University city. While we waited for the bus to take us to our host homes a pigeon decided to give my fellow teammate Jake a warm welcome to England. I'll just leave it at that.
My first experience of the UK has been great. The greenery heading from London to Henley-on-Thames gave me a slight reminder of the fields back home in Kentucky. After unpacking our stuff, the team got the boats we will be racing in sorted away and rigged. After a nice introductory row on the Henley. We ended the long day with a nice dinner and headed home for some much-needed sleep. I'm ecstatic for what the days ahead hold for us Dragons.
Day 2 - Richmond Coney - Junior - Ringgold, Ga.
After a busy first day at Henley our second day was largely composed of catching up on sleep, meeting rowing celebrities and touring the prestigious Leander Club– the club that many rowers can only imagine gaining entrance to.
We got off to a later start than usual with a morning row at around 9:00 a.m., which was a nice shift from our typical 6:00 a.m. practice routine. Following that initial morning practice we walked around town until we eventually reached an establishment called Waitrose, which is the local grocery store. Our trip to the store resulted in guys exiting with bottles of chocolate milk in hand with smiles spread wide across our faces.
Since we had a gap in between morning and afternoon practice, each of us returned to our respective host ho
mes following our trip to the grocery store. Of the 16 rowers, two coxswains, and three coaches who made the trip, we're currently divided up into three separate homes. For my house in particular, we spent some time cooking our newly bought groceries and we ended up making a surprisingly tasty lunch composed of Mexican seasoned chicken, steamed green beans, lemon and herb seasoned broccoli, and last but not least we had boatloads of rice.
Post lunch my housemates and I lounged around in our back patio for an hour or two and eventually we once again found ourselves making the 25-minute hike down to the race course for practice No. 2. We did some higher intensity work and my boat in particular was really starting to get the flow of things on this new river.
Following that second row I think the excitement really began to ramp up for a lot of the guys. Especially since after that point everyone had gotten settled, and some parents were starting to trickle in after making the long journey from the States. Further adding onto the excitement was the fact that many influential and popular rowers had begun arriving at the course as well. Most notably, several of the guys actually got to meet British National Team member Cameron Buchan, and got a few pictures with him too!
To cap off an eventful day we enjoyed an absolutely amazing dinner at Leander Club. As aforementioned, this club is a highly prestigious rowing team that only allows 40 male and 40 female members from across the globe who are essentially national team hopefuls for their respective countries. Inside the club you can find rowers and Olympians from the U.S., Scotland, England and more! In addition to being provided with copious amounts of lasagna we also received a tour or Leander's boathouse including sections like their boatbay, wall of fame, and their indoor workout facilities.
All in all, we had a blast exploring the town a bit more, eating lots and meeting some amazing people. I can't wait to see what the rest of this trip has in store!
Day 1 - Lake Watson - Sophomore - Lexington, Ky.
The day began like any other day in University City. Woke up at 5:15 a.m. for practice on the Schuylkill at 6:00 a.m. The boats got some steady state and 30 stroke shots in, soaking up the last row of the 2022 season on our home course. After practicing it was time to head back home and get everything packed for the trip across the pond. With the help of a cold brew from Starbucks I headed to the DAC to meet up with the team and get on the bus to go to JFK airport.
Before I knew it, we were 35,000 feet in the air traveling a little under 600 mph, just a tad bit faster than we do in a boat. After a nice microwaveable pasta and some apple juice from the cart, I buttoned my neck pillow up and tried my best to sleep. The six-ish hours on the plan was just about as good as you'd expect any red eye to England would be. We landed in England and somehow time traveled five hours ahead. This, mixed with the minimal sleep I was able to get on the plane, made for an interesting start to my morning. I was able to get some coffee in the airport and let's just say I'll stick to the cold brew back in University city. While we waited for the bus to take us to our host homes a pigeon decided to give my fellow teammate Jake a warm welcome to England. I'll just leave it at that.
My first experience of the UK has been great. The greenery heading from London to Henley-on-Thames gave me a slight reminder of the fields back home in Kentucky. After unpacking our stuff, the team got the boats we will be racing in sorted away and rigged. After a nice introductory row on the Henley. We ended the long day with a nice dinner and headed home for some much-needed sleep. I'm ecstatic for what the days ahead hold for us Dragons.
Day 2 - Richmond Coney - Junior - Ringgold, Ga.
After a busy first day at Henley our second day was largely composed of catching up on sleep, meeting rowing celebrities and touring the prestigious Leander Club– the club that many rowers can only imagine gaining entrance to.
We got off to a later start than usual with a morning row at around 9:00 a.m., which was a nice shift from our typical 6:00 a.m. practice routine. Following that initial morning practice we walked around town until we eventually reached an establishment called Waitrose, which is the local grocery store. Our trip to the store resulted in guys exiting with bottles of chocolate milk in hand with smiles spread wide across our faces.
Since we had a gap in between morning and afternoon practice, each of us returned to our respective host ho
mes following our trip to the grocery store. Of the 16 rowers, two coxswains, and three coaches who made the trip, we're currently divided up into three separate homes. For my house in particular, we spent some time cooking our newly bought groceries and we ended up making a surprisingly tasty lunch composed of Mexican seasoned chicken, steamed green beans, lemon and herb seasoned broccoli, and last but not least we had boatloads of rice.Post lunch my housemates and I lounged around in our back patio for an hour or two and eventually we once again found ourselves making the 25-minute hike down to the race course for practice No. 2. We did some higher intensity work and my boat in particular was really starting to get the flow of things on this new river.
Following that second row I think the excitement really began to ramp up for a lot of the guys. Especially since after that point everyone had gotten settled, and some parents were starting to trickle in after making the long journey from the States. Further adding onto the excitement was the fact that many influential and popular rowers had begun arriving at the course as well. Most notably, several of the guys actually got to meet British National Team member Cameron Buchan, and got a few pictures with him too!
To cap off an eventful day we enjoyed an absolutely amazing dinner at Leander Club. As aforementioned, this club is a highly prestigious rowing team that only allows 40 male and 40 female members from across the globe who are essentially national team hopefuls for their respective countries. Inside the club you can find rowers and Olympians from the U.S., Scotland, England and more! In addition to being provided with copious amounts of lasagna we also received a tour or Leander's boathouse including sections like their boatbay, wall of fame, and their indoor workout facilities.
All in all, we had a blast exploring the town a bit more, eating lots and meeting some amazing people. I can't wait to see what the rest of this trip has in store!
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Rowing
/ Men's Rowing
Drexel's Autocomplete With Rowing Coach Paul Savell
Tuesday, March 18
Justin Best - Olympic Gold Medal Rower
Wednesday, March 05
Dragon Leadership Academy Feature 2024
Friday, March 01
Game Plans - Presented by The Study - Rowing Coach Katie Lane
Tuesday, February 06
