Tyler Lian of Old Lyme, a former intern for LymeLine.com who is currently a student at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., was selected to be a member of the school’s rowing team, which competed last week at the Henley Royal Regatta in England.
Philips Academy, one of the nation’s oldest private secondary schools, accomplished a historic first by fielding both a male and a female team at the Henley Royal Regatta rowing competition. While Andover has sent girls’ and boys’ teams to Henley during separate years, the program has reached new levels this year fielding both full boys’ and girls’ teams at the same time.
The Andover crew team was poised to cap off an already strong season, with the girls’ team having won the New England Interscholastic Rowing Championship earlier this year and the boys’ team taking second (missing the top spot by 0.25 seconds). Andover sent two boats of eight and two boats of four from each gender, a show of strength for a program already regarded as one of the nation’s strongest (… along with Lyme-Old Lyme High School!)
The 28 students and two coaches qualified by proving the fastest crews in New England who met the Henley requirements. “I could not be more proud of how well the Andover girls performed at Henley Women’s Regatta. They came over here held their own against some of the best secondary schools in the world finishing in the semi-finals in both the 8 and the 4,” said Dale Hurley, coach of Andover girls’ crew.
The Henley Royal Regatta has been one of world’s leading races since 1839 and attracts high school, university, and professional teams from all over the world.
Andover has had a historic presence at the races, with the most recent woman’s team competing in 2007 and the most recent boys team competing in 2006. The boys team made it to the semifinals of the Princess Cup at Henley in 2006 and the girls team made it to the finals of the same cup in 2007.
For more photos, visit http://phillipsacademy.smugmug.com/Athletics/201415/Henley-Womens-Regatta/
For more information, visit http://www.andover.edu/About/Newsroom/Pages/HenleyRegatta2015.aspx