Boston University head men's rowing coach Thomas Bohrer recently returned home from Henley-on-the-Thames, England where the Terriers competed at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta on July 3-5. Bohrer recently sat down with GoTerriers.com and shared his thoughts on the teams' experience. For a race recap and results click HERE
Bohrer: "Racing at the Henley Regatta is always a goal of our program. It's an opportunity for some of our student-athletes to get four additional weeks of training and competition at a very high level which should make us faster going into next year. Also, from a recruiting standpoint, the entire rowing world is watching Henley. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious rowing regattas in the world, so potential recruits who might not have originally considered BU see us competing and now BU is on the table. Henley is always a great experience, but this years' trip was really exceptional."
"Henley is just a unique experience that is not normal at all in rowing. There are thousands of people watching you compete and they are all dressed up in suits, hats and dresses. The regatta is 136 years old and they still do things the same way they always have. Yes, there is professional timing but they still do things like the random draws, dual matches in a course lined with wood booms, and the old antique launch boats that follow behind the boats competing. There are officials placing wooden markers up along the course during the race to show the distances between the boats. It just a unique and cool experience."
"For Henley, the entire community welcomes the regatta and opens up their homes to host teams who are traveling to compete. Our family, Mark and Sarah Hanson, hosted us for 10 days and they were awesome. We were about a mile from the course in a beautiful classic English countryside home with big hedges around the property. Their home was able to sleep all of us and had a big kitchen and the guys were able to cook dinner together. It was just a great place to hang out. We had vans but the guys could walk to the course and into town and the market."
"We flew from Boston on Friday and got used to the time difference and our borrowed equipment and started our first practice session on Saturday. On Monday we did some pieces with the Moseley Boat Club which is a good British club. One of our alum, Oliver Solonna ('16) was in their boat so it was a lot a lot of fun to compete against them and get ready for the start of real competition."
GoTerriers' Note: Henley race competition began on Wednesday, July 3. BU entered two boats, an 8+ and a 4+. The 8+ competed in the Temple Cup competition which is against only university 8+ boats, while the 4+ competed in the Prince Albert Cup against university 4+ boats. The BU 4+ fell to the University of London on Day 1 and were knocked out of the Prince Albert Cup competition. Meanwhile, the BU 8+ defeated Exeter University by 2 1/2 length on Day 1 and then defeated the University of Penn by 2/3 length on Day 2 to advance to the quarterfinals on Friday. BU drew regatta favorite Oxford Brookes University who defeated BU and went on to win the Temple Cup.
Bohrer: "One thing to remember is that all the British clubs gear their training towards Henley. All they race for all season is to get ready for the Henley. That's what they are training for, that's what they think about. So during their season they are racing 8s and 4s and trying to figure out where they are going to be most competitive and what event they have the best chances of winning.
"The team our 4+ raced on Day 1 of the regatta, the University of London, was a tough draw. I know that they put all their top guys in their 4+ and didn't race an 8+. That's what you are up against. There is a lot of maneuvering around and strategy. There are always teams that get knocked out on the first day and it's not fun but that's just what happens."
"Later in the regatta with the quarterfinals on Friday, our 8 had our best race of the year but we drew Oxford Brookes University, who went on to win the whole thing. They were the Temple Cup favorites. We had a better race against them than our 1V had at IRAs. A lot of people were talking about how well we raced and noticed our program. I felt we left the regatta getting a lot of respect. The guys felt really good about themselves even though we came up short. I would say we were one of the top three or four programs in the event. If we hadn't drawn Brookes I felt like we would have advanced to Saturday's semis which would have been awesome but that's just how Henley works." BU's "Temple 8+" boat in action defeating Exeter University on Day 1
"Most of our guys that traveled to Henley are returning next season. Some of the guys from our V8 couldn't make the trip due to internships and other commitments so we had other guys step up and fill in. Jared Naar and David Fox for example jumped in and did a nice job. We moved Elliott Jenkins to stroke and he did a really great job and all those guys are coming back next year and along with our incoming class we are pretty excited about our team."
"I think all along this year, one of the things that defined our team was that it was a pretty close knit group. I think the guys got along. They respected each other. Usually as the year goes along the guys start wearing on each other. They're spending to much time together. When we trained for Henley there are 14 of us and then we are living in the same house after spending the entire year together. I would categorize this Henley group and our entire team as a group that enjoyed being with each other. Not just rowing together but cooking dinner together, hanging out with each other, playing ping pong or pool. That made it pretty special. It's a group that wanted each other to do well, to go to a higher level, to hold each other accountable and that was sort of what defined our season."
"Another highlight of the trip was that a lot of our alums were racing over there. Jacob Barker ('18), Max Ponsen ('18), Oliver Solanna (16'), and Alex Dillon ('16), to name a few. So it was just fun to be on the course practicing and you see a guy waiving and yelling "Yeh BU!" and you see it's one of our guys you haven't seen in awhile. Its pretty cool. We had a lot of alumni that made the trip there to. Flo Mennigan ('05 – Olympic gold medalist) was there and talked to the guys. Stephan Bub ('83) came over to watch the racing and was part of BU's crew that first raced at Henley in 1983. BU's director of athletics Drew Marrochello made the trip. Drew was in the launch for the first race and watched the guys win and he talked to the guys after the race which meant a lot to the team."
Marrochello: "The Henley Royal Regatta is everything that it is advertised to be and we were honored to have the opportunity to compete at this prestigious event. At an institution like BU, we are able to give our students incredible opportunities in cities around the globe. When you can combine that with the world-class rowing talent that was showcased in London, it is truly something special." BU director of athletics Drew Marrochello and Tom Bohrer on launch Bohrer: "Another great part of the trip was seeing Vass Ragoussis ('16) who went to race for Oxford University after BU and won the Oxford - Cambridge boat race in 2018. Vass invited us over to the Oxford Boathouse for a barbeque. So the guys got to see where Oxford rowed and the Oxford coach Sean Bowden talked to the guys about opportunities to row for Oxford if they wanted to go for a graduate degree and what it was like to go to school there and how it could lead to rowing in the Oxford - Cambridge boat race which is a huge race."
"We also had an alumni event in the country for all the parents and non rowing alumni who live in the London area or traveled to Henley, including Wil Duchesneau ('63) who made the trip. The event was held in a classic English countryside location and we were told the property was where they filmed the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. If you remember that movie it gives you an idea of the scenery I am talking about."
"We all stayed for the final races on Sunday and watched the ceremonies and then flew back Monday. One of the biggest finals races was the 100th anniversary of the Kings Cup which was started just after World War I. The race is for active service members only and it is a coed race with each boat having at least two female members. The U.S. Naval Academy won which was pretty cool. Of all the races that day I think the crowd cheering for that race was the loudest. The U.S. defeated Germany which may have been why but it was really cool to watch and be there for. It was an amazing trip and I am so glad our student-athletes got to experience it and I am proud of how they raced." BU Terriers at Henley
