St. Joe's Prep Arrives Safely in England

Members of the St. Joseph's Prep Varsity 8 arrived safely this morning in England. Under the coaching guidance of head coach Bill Lamb and assistant coaches Andy Kelly and Matt Ruggles, coxwain Mark Delguercio, and rowers including Pat Dewechter, Brad Adams, Drew Golda, Mike Lombardi, Mike Gennaro, Matt McGowan, Ken Ewell, and John Connolly, began training at Henley on the Thames late this afternoon.

Recap of Day 1:

Let me first say that England is absolutely awesome. The whole feel of the area is so different from the United States.

Our flight from Newark felt long. It was around 5 1/2 hours long. Most of us got little or no sleep. We left Newark a little after nine o'clock at night and arrived in England a little before nine in the morning.

After checking our passports and getting our baggage, we rented a van and drove to the race course to drop off the oars (yes, we were able to bring them on the flight) and a trunk full of odds and ends for the boat.

The boat tent is huge and kinda smells like a Home Depot inside. There are 18 bays and 16 racks in each bay. The entire thing is covered and even has bathrooms and a dressing area. According to Coach Lamb, he said that it can get pretty full. We are borrowing a bright yellow V1 from Vespoli, which will be sold to an Engligh crew after the regatta.

We went to lunch at a family owned restaurant in the town called the Anchor Inn. This restaurant is the same place that the '99 Henley Crew ate most of their meals.

The Colemen's house is great. It is only 5 minutes by car (10 minute run). It has enough room for everyone and a backyard big enough to set up some pretty awesome croquet courses. Me, Pat, Ken, John, and Mark are all on the top floor. On the second floor, Mike, Mike, Matt, and Brad are sharing a room.

In order to get used to the time difference as quick as possible, we were told that we shouldn't sleep until we were going to bed for the night. That made for a really long day, but most of us were so excited about being there that even though we were tired, we kept going and made it.

The town, Henley-on-Thames, is absolutely beautiful. Every building is unique and has a hint of old world English charm. It is nothing like the United States with all the mass produced stores all over the place. The streets are windy with roundabouts and there seem to be a lot of small shops.

After practice, we went back to the Colemen's house for dinner. We are called to dinner by a bell and all gather around a large dining table. For dinner, e had Mediterranean Chicken, potatoes, green beans, bread, and peach crumble and ice cream for dessert. Mrs. Coleman is an excellent cook and we were warned that we might gain a little bit of weight over here (which isn't really a problem for a heavyweight crew). Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are great hosts. They really know and care a lot about the sport of crew and make sure that every rower they have in their house is fed and comfortable.

The weather has been really nice here. Its been in the upper 80's which is uncommon here. Later on this week I think it is supposed to rain and get cooler (back to typical English weather).

We will try and update this blog daily. Feel free to leave comments...we would love to hear from everyone back in the States! Also check for our webshots photo albums. Thank you for all your support. Go Prep!

-Drew Golda