[GRP Row] Jacob and Emily compete at the Henley Royal Regatta

Plihal and Delleman earlier in their European tour.

Fresh off of 5th and 9th place finishes at World Cup 2 in Poland, Emily Delleman and James Plihal completed their first European racing tour of the summer with a trip to the famed Henley Royal Regatta. Born in 1839, the famed HRR features one-on-one racing heats on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England. This year’s edition took place last week, from June 28 – July 3. 

Delleman finished her weekend in the semi-finals of the Prince Grace Challenge Cup (Open W4x). Plihal’s boat competed in the Queen Mother Challenge Cup (Open M4x) and finished second to the Chinese National Rowing Team in the final.

After qualifying, Delleman’s US National Team quad faced an Australian crew in the heats on Friday. The Americans took the head-to-head heat with a whopping 5 length margin over the Aussies at the finish to land them a spot in the semis on Saturday against a stronger Australian National Team boat. That contest proved more competitive, with this cadre of Aussies dispatching Delleman’s quad by 2 lengths.

Delleman training with the US quad.

Plihal teamed up with rowers from Texas Rowing Club and Vesper Boat Club, including doubles partner Dominique Williams, a former Green Racing Project U23 athlete. After qualifying, their quad jumped straight into the semis to face a New Zealand squad. The Kiwis got out to a hot start and led for much of the race, but a surging Plihal and company powered on to not only catch their opponents but open a 2.25 length margin at the finish. In the final, Plihal, Williams et. al. faced the Chinese National Team. Once again their opponents got out to an early start, but this time the Americans weren’t able to close the gap and finished 2 lengths behind.

Delleman and Plihal returned to Craftsbury, Vermont where they will recover and get back to preparing for the 2022 World Rowing Championships which take place in September in Račice, Czech Republic.