Western men win one of world’s top rowing meets
It was a successful day for Canada at the Henley Royal Regatta in the U.K. on Sunday, with three Canadian eights crews taking titles.
The University of Western Ontario men’s eight defeated Trinity College of Hartford, Conn., by 2 3/4 lengths in 6:42 to win the Temple Challenge Cup final. Trinity caught an oar in the water and lurched to one side, allowing the Canadians to push ahead after a few strokes and go on to victory.
In the Grand Challenge Cup event, Canada’s under-23 men’s eight, a combined team of Kingston, Ont., and Victoria rowing clubs beat the University of Southern California. The Canadians defeated the American crew by two boat lengths in a time of 6:29.
The Canadian crew consisted of Anthony Jacob of Vancouver, Conlin McCabe of Brockville, Ont., Will Dean of Kelowna, B.C., Blake Pucsek and Chris Aylard of Victoria, Will Crothers of Kingston, Ont., Stephen Connolly of Calgary, Rob Gibson of Kingston, and Ronan Sabo-Walsh (cox) of Vancouver.
The Grand Challenge Cup is the regatta’s most prestigious event and has been competed for annually since 1839.
The Canadian under-23s now head to Brandenburg, Germany, for their age-group world championships July 17-20.
It was also a good day for Vancouver Island’s Shawnigan Lake School, which defeated England’s Eton College by three quarters of a length with a final time of 6:48—good enough to win the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup for junior men’s eights.
– The Canadian Press