HENLEY-ON-THAMES, U.K. – Washington's men's eight won the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta Sunday, beating a crew from Oxford Brookes University and breaking the event record by five seconds.
 
The Husky crew, comprised mostly of members of second and third varsity eights from this past season, won the race in five minutes, 58 seconds, five seconds faster than the old record for the Temple Challenge Cup, an event for men's collegiate eights that was first held in 1990. The Huskies won five match races over the five-day regatta this week to win in a field of 32 entries, including nine from American colleges.
 
Washington's winning crew was coxswain Kimmons Wilson '19 and rowers Sean Kelly '18, George Esau '20, Peter Lancashire '21, Steve Rosts '21, David Bridges '20, Robert Karlen '18, Philipp Nonnast '19 and Alexander Vollmer '20. The Huskies had previously won the Temple Challenge Cup in 2010 and 2012. Oxford Brookes had won it three of the last four years and six times overall.
 
Sunday, in the next-to-last event of the regatta, the two crews both came out of the starting dock at a high rate and remained neck-and-neck for the early portion of the race. About a quarter of the way in, however, Washington's boat surged in front, increasing a small lead to a boat length by the time the two crews reached the Barrier.
 
On a day that saw numerous records fall due to excellent conditions, the Huskies held their lead though the middle portions, but Brookes made a move as the two shells headed down the stretch, cutting the Huskies' advantage to as little as half of a length.
 
As the two crews passed the huge crowds gathered near the finish, Washington managed to answer the Brookes challenge and crossed the finish line ahead of the British shell, winning the race by a length.


 
Washington's time of 5:58 broke the old Temple Challenge Cup record by five seconds, as A.S.R. Nereus (a Dutch crew that the UW beat earlier this week at Henley) had set that old mark at 6:03 in 2015.
 
The Huskies also broke the Temple Challenge Cup records to both the Barrier and Fawley markers (the two longtime milestones along the Thames). Sunday, the Huskies reached the Barrier in 1:43 and Fawley in 2:53 (the UW had set a record at 2:56 earlier this week). Both of those new marks are just one second off of the overall Henley records, newly set this weekend in the Grand Challenge Cup by the Australian and Romanian national teams, respectively.

"This boat learned what it means to execute their race in high stress situations because Oxford Brookes is a very formidable opponent," said UW assistant coach Sam Dommer, a member of the Husky crew that won the Temple in 2012 and the coach for the 2018 Henley group. "I am very proud of this boat and for showing what they are able to achieve if they trust each other. Three course records isn't bad either!"
 
Earlier Sunday, Washington's Anna Thornton '19, who will be a senior at the UW next year, won the Stonor Challenge Trophy for women's double sculls, along with her partner, Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne. Those two, who will represent Great Britain at the Under-23 World Rowing Championships later this month in Poland, beat another British entry, Susannah Duncan and Danielle Semple.
 


Thornton and Hodgkins-Byrne, who were both in the British quad sculls that won the gold medal at last year's Under-23 Worlds, beat Duncan and Semple, Britain's under-23 lightweight double, by four and a half lengths, completing the course in 7:38. Thornton and Hodgkins-Byrne tied the Barrier and Fawley records set last year by New Zealand's Brooke Donoghue and Olivia Loe, who went on to win the 2017 World Championship in the double sculls.
 
Additionally, former UW captain Jacob Dawson '16, won the Stewards' Challenge Cup with the Great Britain coxless four, rowing for Leander Club.
 
Washington's 2018 Henley Royal Regatta Lineup:
 
Men's Eight (Temple Challenge Cup)
Cox – Kimmons Wilson '19 (Orlando, Fla.)
Stroke – Sean Kelly '18 (Princeton, N.J.)
7 – George Esau '20 (Long Lake, Minn.)
6 – Peter Lancashire '21 (Port Macquarie, Australia)
5 – Steve Rosts '21 (Jordan, Ontario, Canada)
4 – David Bridges '20 (Portland, Ore.)
3 – Robert Karlen '18 (Everett, Wash.)
2 – Philipp Nonnast '19 (Frankfurt, Germany)
Bow – Alexander Vollmer '20 (Hamburg, Germany)
 
Huskies at Henley History
Here is a list of UW victories at the Henley Royal Regatta:
 
1977 – Grand Challenge Cup (men's eight)
1977 – Visitors' Challenge Cup (men's coxless four)
1981 – Ladies Challenge Plate (men's eight)
2000 – Henley Prize (women's eight)
2003 – Ladies Challenge Plate (men's eight)
2010 – Temple Challenge Cup (men's eight)
2012 – Temple Challenge Cup (men's eight)
2015 – Prince Albert Challenge Cup (men's coxed four)
2018 – Temple Challenge Cup (men's eight)
Other appearances: 1958, 1973, 1984, 1995, 1997, 2013, 2018