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Men's crew team competes in England
2:10 p.m., July 14, 2003--UDs mens crew team, coming off the most successful season in its 12-year history, sent its varsity lightweight team to compete in the worlds most prestigious rowing eventthe Henley Royal Regatta, held annually in Henley-on-Thames, England, during the first week of July. This was the first time Delaware has sent a team to compete.
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Photo courtesy of UD men's crew team |
The Henley Regatta is as much about the experience as it is about the racing, Assistant Coach John Williams said. It is an honor to race international crews in a regatta that has been going on since 1839.
Delawares team competed for the Temple Challenge Cup, which is open to crews from universities, colleges and schools. The competition is head-to-head, single-elimination and is open-weight, meaning the UD lightweight team was competing against heavyweight teams. This is the only race that uses this format; most sprint races are done in heats, with six boats of the same weight class across.
In the first round, Delawares team defeated St. Cuthberts Society, from Durham University by 4-1/2 boat lengths. In the second round, Delaware faced Oxford Brookes University A, a strong heavyweight team that posted the fastest time of the day. Using a loaner boat they received upon arriving in the UK, UDs lightweight crew lost to Oxford by less than a boat length.
Head Coach Chuck Crawford said competing in the Henley Royal Regatta and actually winning a race is an achievement in itself. During the events, our guys learned quite a bit about how major programs train, compete and act, he said.
The lightweight, eight-person team was able to attend the event thanks in large part to a $10,000 donation from the UD Alumni Association and by winning a $6,000 grant from the Dad Vail Committee. Williams said the committee makes this award once per year as an incentive to attend the Dad Vail regatta in Philadelphia. Crawford applied for the award based on the teams strong showing during the season.
Besides winning the Dad Vail Regatta on May 10, the Lightweight eight crew finished first in Colonial Athletic Association championships, first in the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships in Tennessee, and had two first-place finishes in the Knecht Cup. The team finished sixth in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship, held May 31 in Camden, N.J., composed of the best college crew teams in the nation.
The team was made up of senior coxswain Mary Vaughn, a psychology major; senior oarsmen Ian Cosden, Darren Burke and Mike Wood, majoring in mechanical engineering, business and economics, respectively; club president and junior oarsman Evan Price, double majoring in political science and history; junior oarsmen Andy Seifried, Sean Galvin and Dan Greeley majoring in civil engineering, political science and finance, marketing and management, respectively; and freshman oarsman Ivan Baldytchev, majoring in chemical engineering.
For more information, visit the crew teams web site at www.delawarecrew.com.
Article by Dean Geddes-Key
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