Henley Royal Regatta: Pirates eliminated by the Irish

Steve Virgen

HENLEY, England - The Orange Coast College crew, making its eighth

appearance in the Henley Royal Regatta, was eliminated Thursday in the

Temple Challenge Cup on the Thames River.

Queen’s University (Belfast) defeated the Pirates by 2 3/4 lengths,

finishing in 6:51. OCC crew coach Dave Grant expected Queen’s to be tough

and the crew from Belfast did not disappoint.

“We had a great race with Queen’s,” Grant said in a telephone

interview. “I was very pleased with our performance. We were in,

somewhat, over our heads. Overall, it was a great experience for

everyone. Racing at Henley is not like anything in the world.”

The OCC crew defeated the University of Bristol (England) Wednesday,

finishing with the third-best time of the 32 boats in the Temple

Challenge Cup. Coast finished in 6:43 on the 2,300-meter course.

The OCC crew includes, coxswain Sierra Caldwell, and Stuart Blair,

Chris Pope, Matt Hietbrink, Gints Salaks, Brian Scheele, Jesse Waldowski,

Alan Twigg and Mike Krueger, the only community college crew in the U.S.