Henley Regatta : Harvard Beats Princeton in Final

Harvard won the Grand Challenge Cup for the first time since 1969 on Sunday, beating Ivy League rival Princeton by 3 lengths in the Henley Regatta’s premier event. It was the first all-U.S. final in 18 years.

The Crimson gained a length lead at the halfway mark, and Princeton never challenged the rest of the race.

Three weeks ago at Cincinnati, Harvard beat Princeton by only .47 seconds. That was followed by a Tiger protest that the Crimson had lodged their weight under the No. 5 seat instead of within reach of the coxswain, as is customary. The protest was later withdrawn.

“That was a bogus protest,” said Devin-Adir Mahoney, Harvard’s coxswain. “Frankly we felt this time even before we came to the start line that we would win, because we were much fresher.

“Last time (against Princeton) we had just peaked for the Harvard-Yale race and had just switched Andy Sudduck to stroke. It takes time to acclimatize.”

Harvard was the superior crew in the final. Princeton tried to answer the Crimson’s whirlwind start with spurts between the half-mile to the one-mile markers, but it couldn’t catch up.

Harvard rowed at a consistent 37 strokes per minute, and kept pulling further away.

Princeton’s efforts on Saturday in beating the University of London crew--the fastest in Britain this year--may have taken its toll.

“We certainly thought so,” Princeton Coach Larry Gluckman said. “Several of the crew said they felt fatigued, and they didn’t really respond when it was needed. But we are still excited to have gotten to the final of the Grand.”

Mahoney and Harvard Coach Harry Parker were thrown into the Thames by a celebrating crew. Harvard’s winning time of 6:27 was 30 seconds faster than the 1969 Harvard winners.

Meanwhile, Brad Lewis of the United States, in an attempt to become the first winner in 18 years of both single and double sculls, was defeated in both races.

Lewis, an Olympic gold medal winner from Corona del Mar, and his partner Greg Springer of the Dirty Dozen Rowing Club were overtaken in the last half-mile by Bjarn Eltang and Lief Kruse of Denmark.

Earlier, Lewis was overwhelmed in the Diamond single sculls final, losing by four lengths to Steve Redgrave, an Olympic gold medalist last summer in Britain’s coxless four.

Princeton had a double disappointment when its fine lightweight eight lost to Leander of Britain in the semifinals of the Ladies’ Plate.