John Graves Places Second in Henley Diamond Challenge Sculls
John Graves repping the Craftsbury uni and Concept2 blades at Henley Royal Regatta
Last Updated: 02.Jul.2017
While the SBTC athletes were wrapping up U23 Trials racing in Princeton, John Graves was busy flying the GRP flag at the Henley Royal Regatta in England in the initial heats of the Diamond Challenge Sculls Cup. Racing as Craftsbury Sculling Center, John defeated M.P. O’Leary of Oxford. In the second round on Friday, John beat J.A. Kirkwood of Leander by 2 ¾ lengths and won his semifinal yesterday over J.B. Stimpson of Nottingham by 3 lengths, setting up a match with M.R.G. Dunham of Waiariki Rowing Club (New Zealand) at 11:20 today.
The row2k website billed the matchup as “a streetfight” and they were not far from the mark with the prediction: John got out to an early lead of a little over a length by the Barrier, which is a little over two minutes into the race in singles. He held roughly that margin for most of the body of the race. Somewhere between the halfway mark at Fawley and the Steward’s Enclosure near the finish line, it looked like John made a big push to break the race open but the Kiwi didn’t blink and kept coming; the final margin was Dunham over Graves by 1 ¾ lengths. A great race by both men by any measure. Also noteworthy: John wore a GRP uni and rowed with U.S.A. blades throughout the regatta, and the race commentators gave a mid-race shout out to Craftsbury – John had included thanks for COC’s support in his notes to the regatta. Well-rowed, Johnny.