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Team Netherlands used a hard turn around the giant rubber ducky to pass the two-time reigning world champion U.S. women’s four to win the feature race of Lenny Peters Cup, part of the High Point Autumn Rowing Festival on Oct. 24 in North Carolina.
Over 1,000 rowers competed in the regatta that puts a spin on fall racing with a 4,700-meter course around a stake turn, marked by a giant, inflatable duck. Most events were head-race style time trials while the elite fours and international women’s varsity eights from High Point University, Duke, Oxford, and Edinburgh raced Lenny Peters Cup events as match races from standing starts.
Sunny skies and warm weather treated spectators in the hospitality enclosure and on the grassy hill overlooking the finish and jumbo screens showing professionally-produced live video while competitors battled a fresh breeze and choppy waters.
“We practiced yesterday, and bumped into the first yellow buoy, so that was a bit too sharp, but today, yeah, it was really, really good.” said Tinka Offereins of the Dutch women’s four which came from open water down on the U.S. four to pass them turning the duck.
“After that, we were in front. So then our race really begun, and we just had to sprint to the finish, and we did that. And yeah, I’m really proud of Mika [Vos] and the girls behind me who were really communicating a lot about that. So, yeah, it was fun.”
The Netherlands is the defending Olympic champions in the women’s four, and the crew that raced at High Point finished third to the U.S. at the recent World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam.
The U.S. four of Kate Knifton, Teal Cohen, Azja Czajkowski, and Molly Bruggeman blasted off of the start like a 2k race to take the early lead, the opposite of their world championship race, in which they trailed the Dutch by a second in the first 500 meters.
“I think they knew that we are very fast starters, they knew they had to go with us,” said Vos after the race. “It was it was really hard from the beginning, and then we really wanted to get the inside turn on the first one, that didn’t work out for us. I thought, shit, that was a bit difficult, not according to plan, but we kept rowing well and we didn’t get flustered or panicked.”
The U.S. crew took the 180-degree duck turn wide, maintaining boat speed, while the Dutch dug in their port-side blades for the quick turn and hung on to win through spirited racing that saw the boats nearly collide multiple times on the way to the finish.
“Both crews did an incredible job at navigating that course,” said race organizer Gene Kininmonth. “To see the turn that the Netherlands did around the duck, I think they were down by three lengths and came out up by one and a half lengths. My biggest concern going in was having a clean race—this is a really challenging course to navigate and we do have lots of collisions and clashes out here on the day—that’s what racing in High Point is all about.”
The four women’s university varsity programs raced three times, first in match races over the full course, then in shorter courses against a different opponent, and finally in a eight-across sprint race. Scotland’s Edinburgh University Boat Club went undefeated, avenging a loss to Duke in last year’s regatta in the second race after defeating two High Point University varsity eights in their first race. Duke raced four eights against a mixed Oxford crew of Boat Race aspirants, lightweight, and reserve rowers, with three of the Blue Devil crews beating the British.
“I was really looking forward to the rematch against Duke,” said Edinburgh coach John Higson. “It was nice to be able to put that one to bed. I’m sure they’ll come back firing next year if we’re back.”
