3 World Champions Penalized at Henley Regatta

Three world rowing champions--West German sculler Peter-Michael Kolbe and British pair Steve Redgrave and Andy Holmes--won their heats Friday and then were penalized for breaking the rules at the 148th Henley Royal Regatta.

Holmes and Redgrave erred by rowing back down the river to loud applause after breaking the course record by 12 seconds in the Silver Goblets, while Kolbe, who also won through to his semifinal, was seen practicing on the course within three minutes of the start of the afternoon session.

Each will now begin todays racing with one false start to their name, which means they can afford no mistakes as only two starts are allowed.

Peter Coni, the event chairman, called their behavior part of “the (John) McEnroe Syndrome.”

“No matter how famous they are, it is still absolutely a matter of safety for people to obey the rules,” Coni said. “We are not going to have a repeat of some of the antics we saw in the 1960s.

“We had oarsmen showing off because they were the bees’ knees and thought we would not do anything to enforce the rules.”

Yale beat Britain’s Thames Tradesmen by a length for its second victory in the Ladies’ Challenge Plate and will meet another British eight, Tideway Scullers, which is stroked by an American, Brian Colgan, and has on board an Olympic gold medalist, Mark Evans of Canada.

Kolbe, who is seeking his first Henley title, swept into the last four of the Diamond Sculls with a four-length victory over Britain’s Matt Thomas.

Holmes and Redgrave, Britain’s world coxed pairs champions, opened up a considerable lead and went on to rout Brian O’Hara and Justin Bohan of New York’s Iona College.