Orange Coast Rowers Come Back to Win Opening Session in Regatta

Orange Coast College surrendered an early lead then powered home during a thrilling finish to beat England’s Reading University Wednesday in the opening session of the Henley Royal Regatta.

Orange Coast rowed to an early three-foot lead over Reading in the first round of the Temple Cup, but lost ground as the British eight edged to a quarter-length lead midway through the 1 1/2-mile course.

Orange Coast pulled ahead in the final stretch for a 1 1/2-length victory.

“I had been a little bit worried for a while,” coxswain Loni Snyder said.

“But when I told them we were down, they said to me that power-wise we were not going to be down. So then we knew we could do it.”

Orange Coast next faces Phillips Academy from Andover, Mass.

Phillips, with bowman Chris Isherwood making a successful return to his home country, beat Ireland’s University College by more than two lengths.