PHILADELPHIA – For the first time since 1998 and just the 16th time in history, the University of Pennsylvania will row at the world's oldest and most prestigious rowing event: the Henley Royal Regatta.
 
By virtue of its win at the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Sprints in May, the men's Lightweight Eight will head to the United Kingdom for this year's event which runs July 3-7 on the River Thames in Henley, United Kingdom (approximately one hour west of London). Penn's Lightweight Eight is listed as one of 64 entrants for The Temple Challenge Cup, and the Quakers also will have a Four compete for the Prince Albert Challenge Cup.

The draw for all of the competitions took place on Saturday, June 29. Penn's Eight will open its bid to win the Temple Challenge Cup with the University of West England on Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. (1:15 Eastern), while the Four will meet Exeter (England) that same day at 2:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. Eastern) to open Prince Albert competition. All races can be viewed on Henley's Youtube channel which can be found here.
 
"It's an honor and a privilege to take a crew to compete at Henley," said Penn's Fred W. Leonard Head Coach of Lightweight Crew, Colin Farrell. "The regatta is such a prestigious event with a storied tradition, and I'm proud that Penn will be part of it. The fact that this is only our fourth time attending since we began as a Lightweight Crew in 1917 makes it that much more special. The crews are eager to line up and compete against many of the best in the world."
 
Alumni Event
The University's Alumni Association will host an on-site event that will be attended by Coach Farrell, the members of Penn's Lightweight Eight entrant, and the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W'69 Director of Athletics and Recreation, Dr. M. Grace Calhoun. The event will take place on Thursday, July 4 at 7 p.m. at the Leander Club (Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 2LP). Click here for more information or to sign up and attend.
 
Penn at Henley
This marks the fifth time the lightweights have qualified a boat for Henley. The first two appearances came back-to-back in 1951 and 1952, and Penn won The Thames Challenge Cup both years as the Quakers beat Germany's Florsheim-Russelsheim in the 1951 final and England's Christ's College in the 1952 final. The Red and Blue lightweights also rowed at Henley In 1976—the last time Penn won Sprints prior to May's victory—and advanced to the semifinals of The Thames Challenge Cup before losing to the Henley Rowing Club. Penn's most recent appearance at Henley came in 1991 in the Thames Challenge Cup.
 
The oldest and most prestigious regatta in the world, the Henley Royal Regatta began in 1839 and has been held annually since then with the exception of World Wars I and II. 
 
Unlike crew races in the United States, races in the Henley Regatta feature only two boats per race. The winning crew moves on, while the losing crew is eliminated from the competition.