HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England —  The Cornell men's lightweight V8+ crew placed second in its first-round race against the University of London on Tuesday evening during the Tea Interval of the opening day of the 2024 Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames.

With the second-place finish, Cornell was eliminated from the Temple Challenge Cup.

"Losing always sucks but I am so proud of the guys and how they raced," said Tyler Nase, the Henry E. Bartels '48 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Lightweight Rowing. "I will always take losses tough and feel like I have a direct responsibility for them, but I truly believe there was a lot gained today. Relentless is the best word I can use to describe our race this evening. Our eight fought every stroke down the course, and despite being down, we pushed back into London and made sure they had to work the entire race.

"London is a good crew. Our guys fought well throughout the race. It's rare at this venue for crews to push back after being down. The umpire said that was the best race she saw of the day. Really proud of the effort."

Conditions on the course featured a calm wind with a slight tail blowing down the entire 2112-meter "Straight Course" which has hosted the Henley Royal Regatta each year since 1924.

Cornell jumped out to early lead over the University of London, generating approximately a two-seat lead before the crews rowed bow-to-bow up to the Barrier mark (600 meters).

"Off the blocks, we did a good job of getting off the line and took the early lead by a seat or two," Nase stated. "Coming through the opening 250 meters, the crews were running pretty even all the way to the Barrier.

London increased its stroke rate to get ahead of the Big Red eight beyond the Barrier mark to create an open-water lead. The English-based crew sustained the lead for the remainder of the piece. Despite generating an open-water lead over Cornell, the Big Red inched closer past the halfway point.

"London took a huge move to gain three-fourths of a length. Our race plan was to push the pace through the middle section of the race and I thought we did a great job and even pushed back into London," Nase said. "They were able to hold on, but you could tell London and our guys were absolutely spent crossing the finish line. The London coaches told us they were worried when we started pushing back into them.

Despite Cornell's surge, London appeared to pick up its stroke rate again over the final third to register a two-thirds of a length victory over the Big Red, clocking a time of 6:28.

"This is my first time ever going to Henley and I have to say this experience has been incredible for so many reasons," Nase said. "As a coach, this regatta has pushed me in ways I could not imagine. As a team, our athletes have benefitted immensely from this experience, not only from the training and racing but from the team bonding and sportsmanship. Lastly, as a program, I can say for certain we gained respect from University of London and probably so many other people watching."

RESULTS
University of London (6:28) def. Cornell University, U.S.A., by two-thirds of a length.

A LOOK UPSTREAM
Cornell has one crew left to race at this year's Henley Royal Regatta as its 4+ crew will take to the water on Thursday, July 4, in the quarterfinals of the Prince Albert Challenge Cup against Cambridge University.

Times for Thursday's races have yet to be announced. All races at the Henley Royal Regatta will be streamed live on the organization's YouTube channel.

The Big Red are one of three international crews remaining in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup, joined by its Ivy League rival Harvard and Netherlands-based crew A.S.R. Nereus.

"We learned a lot today and will take what we learned and apply it to the 4+," Nase said. "They will race against a solid Cambridge crew, and the 4+ is itching to get out there and line up. I think this will be another close one. I am excited for Thursday to say the least."

PRINCE ALBERT CHALLENGE CUP QUARTERFINALS DRAW
Edinburgh University 'A' vs. Oxford Brookes University 'A'

University of London 'A' vs. A.S.R. Nereus, Netherlands

Cambridge University vs. Cornell University, U.S.A.

Oxford Brookes University 'B' vs. Harvard University, U.S.A.