Rowers have been racing in the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, for more than 160 years. So when five members of the Stanford women’s crew team recently flew to England for the affiliated Henley Women’s Regatta, they were jolly well psyched.
This was the first time Stanford women had traveled to the three-day international event, held each June on a windy 1,500-meter stretch of the Henley Reach. With more than 300 entrants—13 in their Senior Four event—the Cardinal women knew the competition would be tough. NCAA rules had limited them to only 10 days of training beyond their regular season. What’s more, “With Stanford’s graduation, the group did not travel until the Tuesday before the Saturday race,” says their coach, Aimee Baker.
Despite the jet lag, sophomore Stephanie Connolly, senior Missy Fiesler, and recent grads Melissa Haury, Ashley Maloney and coxswain Wendy Hoeveler quickly pulled ahead of the pack, beating three teams from England and then easily winning their June 20 semifinal against Aberdeen University with a time of 5:42.
The afternoon race, against longtime rival Princeton, proved more of a challenge. “They were really quick off the line, but once we took some seats on them toward the middle of the race we were able to keep moving,” Baker said. In the end, Stanford finished two and three-quarters lengths ahead of the Tigers—setting a new course record of 5:21 and winning gold medals. Baker said, “The seniors said they could not imagine a more perfect way to cap their four years at Stanford.” As the Brits would say, good show.
