Henley Regatta : British Pair Recovers From Crash to Beat Soviets

Juri and Nikolai Pimenov of the Soviet Union, world champions in the pairs without coxswain, were beaten by the world coxed pairs champions, Steve Redgrave and Andy Holmes of Great Britain, Sunday in one of the most extraordinary races in the 148-year-old history of the Henley Regatta.

The Soviet pair was beaten at its specialty after an unusual sequence of events that included a collision with a pleasure canoe by the British pair, a restart, a false start in the second race, and a bizarre finish in which the Soviets stopped completely.

The first race ended after only a quarter of a mile when a canoe, rowed by two young women, rowed across the course right in front of the Britons.

The two women bailed out and swam ashore. They were booed by the crowd before being taken away in a police launch. The Britons’ boat collided with the upturned shell and punctured it.

In the second race, the Soviets were leading, but, astonishingly, they quit once the Britons started to move up.