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Thames RC 'A' vs De Hoop

Thames RC ‘A’ vs De Hoop: A HRR rivalry with three wins in three years for the Tideway club Three years, three races, one result – we dig into this enduring, international battle between the booms Credit: AllMarkOne Koninklijke Amsterdamsche Roei-en Zeilvereeniging ‘De Hoop’ of the Netherlands and Thames RC have gone up against each […]

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Thames RC 'A' vs De Hoop


Thames RC ‘A’ vs De Hoop: A HRR rivalry with three wins in three years for the Tideway club

Three years, three races, one result – we dig into this enduring, international battle between the booms

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Credit: AllMarkOne

Koninklijke Amsterdamsche Roei-en Zeilvereeniging ‘De Hoop’ of the Netherlands and Thames RC have gone up against each other in Thames Challenge Cup semi-finals and finals for the last three years. Each year Thames has had the edge.

“The story itself has some nice nuances to it,” said Thames RC Club Captain Tom Foad. Tom had been coached by De Hoop’s coach Jeroen van der Kall when he was at Thames RC between 2019 and 2022. “Our Head Coach, Sander Smulders also used to coach at De Hoop, so there’s a connection between the two clubs.”

The clubs have created what Tom calls a “friendly rivalry”.

“I think what’s really cool over the last three years is that before 2022, De Hoop were relatively unknown here. What’s been really cool over the last few years is we’ve seen their progression. Each year they keep coming back. This year, they were actually probably one of the favourites.”

2023 Thames Challenge Cup Final

In 2023, under sunny skies, Thames RC ‘A’ lined up against De Hoop for the first time, in the final of the Thames Cup.

Patrick Tawns was stroke of the boat. “We’d come off the back of losing to Molesey BC in 2022 by ⅔ of a length. We all got phone calls from Jamie Brown that summer – we didn’t have a paid coach, he said; ‘I’ll take control, as a volunteer.’ He asked us what we wanted from that season – we told him we wanted to win the Thames Cup.”

“I think that’s a very rare thing, being able to enjoy a Henley final.”

The Dutch crew had taken out Thames’ B crew on the Friday by ¾ of a length and Leander Club by the same distance on the Saturday. Thames RC ‘A’ had faced Sydney RC, Australia in their semi final – a brilliant race by all accounts, with a result of 1 ¼ lengths win for the Tideway Club.

Joe Bright was in six seat of the Thames boat. “We raced Sydney before – we had never raced these guys. We assumed they would be quick out the start and we were down at the end of the Island, but we knew the middle three minutes of our race were really quick – they couldn’t hold onto us after that.”

“I left my breakfast outside the boat tents before the Sydney race,” Patrick recalls. “But we executed the perfect race. We expected it to be closer – winning by clear water was quite nice.”

Patrick watched as his competition boated for the final. “I thought the way they carried their boat out was quite impressive.”

After the Island, it was smooth sailing for Thames RC.  “By the time we hit Remenham it sunk in that we were two minutes out from winning Henley. We just tried to commit it all to memory – because you want to remember this moment for the rest of your life.”

Patrick agreed; “I think that’s a very rare thing, being able to enjoy a Henley final.”

“We stopped thinking about the rowing, stopped concentrating on it. Watching it back,” Joe laughs, “it’s probably one of our weaker races! but going into the Enclosures, we started to tighten up again to show everyone what we could do. Our cox’s voice started to break. I started thinking – what do I do when I cross the line?!”

3 ¾ lengths was the final verdict, with Thames cruising across the line in style.

2024 Thames Challenge Cup Final

“Unfortunately, we didn’t have as easy a time of it in 2024.” said Andy Thomas, seven seat in the boat the following year.

Domestically, Thames RC had tough competition leading into the Regatta from London RC. They’d lost to them at Wallingford, Metropolitan and Marlow Regatta – and met them in the semi-final. “It was a tough race – credit to those guys. Then we had to switch on for the final.”

“I remember quite vividly through the final, just thinking, man, I wish these guys would go away!” De Hoop stuck to Thames RC the entire way down the course, passing an extremely damp line of spectators on a biblically rainy Sunday.

Andy had been coached by Jeroen van der Kall. “We knew each other’s programmes fairly well, a similar style of racing. I didn’t have a moment during the race where I thought, okay, we have this.”

Andy was alongside his competition for most of the race. “They are very impressive guys, a classy outfit. They stepped on from the year before. Full credit to them for pushing us all the way.”

2025 Thames Challenge Cup Semi Final

Rainy weather greeted spectators on the Saturday of Henley Royal Regatta 2025. Cafe Regatta was filled to the brim with white and red-trimmed Thames RC blazers, eyes glued to the screens, tense seated rowers asking their taller, standing club mates to duck to clear the view path.

De Hoop were “the pick of the regatta” for Grace Prendegast commentating – Piotr Golawski backed the ‘revolution’ led by Ben Lewis, but mentioned that the Dutch believed they were the stronger crew.

It was close from the start. Thames RC had pulled a length ahead by the time the boats passed Remenham Club, at the ¾ mile mark, the overlap was minimal. They soon broke clean.

“They haven’t responded.” Grace said as Thames entered the enclosures and grew their lead once more. The banks roared for the home crew – and took their place in the final at a distance of 1 ¼ lengths.

The future

Thames RC will face London RC in the final tomorrow, out for redemption after losing to Thames RC in last year’s semi final. “We know that both these crews on their day are just phenomenal crews. Our crew will stay calm amongst the pressure, to try to deliver that kind of race-winning performance. It might go absolutely down to the wire.”

And what’s next for De Hoop? “I think they’ll actually keep getting stronger and stronger as they keep going back to Henley, keep getting involved in like these really close races and producing good performances.” Said Tom.

“And for us, ultimately that’s good. It really keeps us on our toes, because we’ve got this up and coming club, which is gonna kind of keep challenging us year on year. And that’s just a testament to the Regatta itself just to have these really high quality crews that come from not just the Netherlands, but all across the world.”

“We hope they keep coming.” Tom smiled. “We hope we stay ahead of them.

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FS1 reportedly cancels three weekday shows, Joy Taylor departs network

One year after revamping its programming lineup with the additions of “Breakfast Ball” and “The Facility,” Fox Sports has canceled both shows and “Speak” in a shake-up that will also result in the exit of Joy Taylor. According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Fox Sports has canceled both “Breakfast Ball” and “The Facility” — […]

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One year after revamping its programming lineup with the additions of “Breakfast Ball” and “The Facility,” Fox Sports has canceled both shows and “Speak” in a shake-up that will also result in the exit of Joy Taylor.

According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Fox Sports has canceled both “Breakfast Ball” and “The Facility” — which were added to the schedule to replace the canceled Skip Bayless vehicle “Undisputed” — as well as the longer-running afternoon program, “Speak,” featuring Joy Taylor, Paul Pierce and Keyshawn Johnson. Taylor is said to no longer be with the company with the expiration of her contract.

Last year, Taylor was accused in a broader 42-page lawsuit against Fox Sports and then-executive Charlie Dixon of creating a hostile work environment. Taylor subsequently denied the allegations made against her. During a recent appearance on Power 105.1 FM’s “The Breakfast Club,” she explained that they were “in the process of things right now” regarding her contract.

Marchand divulged that FS1 will likely be creating new shows in place of these cancellations and that “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” and “First Things First” will be continuing in their timeslots. On top of that, host Craig Carton could opt to make a return to WFAN, where he starred on morning and afternoon drive shows for over a decade. Chris Oliviero, who brought Carton to the station after he served time in prison for fraud, was recently promoted to serve as the chief business officer of Audacy and has oversight of WFAN.

Carton worked with Danny Parkins and Mark Schlereth on “Breakfast Ball,” which aired in the mornings from New York City. The network then shifted its programming to Los Angeles with “The Facility,” which included Emmanuel Acho,Chase Daniel, James Jones and LeSean McCoy.There are no details regarding the contracts or future of these on-air talents, nor if they could be part of new programming iterations.



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U.S. Classic gymnastics 2025: field of gymnasts, how to watch, schedule

The U.S. Classic, the top tune-up meet for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, airs live on CNBC and Peacock on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. NBC airs highlights Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. Hezly Rivera, the youngest member of the 2024 Olympic champion team, headlines the field that will compete in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Rivera, now […]

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The U.S. Classic, the top tune-up meet for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, airs live on CNBC and Peacock on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

NBC airs highlights Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

Hezly Rivera, the youngest member of the 2024 Olympic champion team, headlines the field that will compete in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Rivera, now 17, is joined by 2024 Olympic alternates Leanne Wong, Joscelyn Roberson and Tiana Sumanasekera.

Plus Jayla Hang, who won the Pan American all-around title in June over a field that included Rivera.

Traditionally, not all of the top gymnasts compete on all four events at Classic, though at least Rivera is expected to do so.

Gymnasts are preparing for the U.S. Championships from Aug. 7-10 in New Orleans.

Then a two-day selection competition in early autumn determines the four-woman team for the World Championships in October in Indonesia.

Simone Biles won five of the last six U.S. Classic meets dating to 2018, with Wong taking the other in 2022 during Biles’ break from competition. Biles is now on another break from competition and has not announced whether she plans to return to bid for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

2025 U.S. Classic Gymnastics Field

Gymnasts are split between two sessions — the first on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on the USA Gymnastics YouTube page and the second at 8 p.m. ET on CNBC and Peacock.

Sage Bradford (Session 1)
Harlow Buddendeck (1)
Dulcy Caylor (2)
Ally Damelio (1)
Jordis Eichman (1)
Reese Esponda (1)
Catherine Guy (1)
Jayla Hang (2)
Gabrielle Hardie (2)
Myli Lew (2)
Nola Matthews (2)
Annalisa Milton (2)
Malea Milton (1)
Avery Moll (1)
Claire Pease (2)
Brooke Pierson (1)
Hezly Rivera (2)
Joscelyn Roberson (2)
Alessia Rosa (2)
Simone Rose (2)
Izzy Stassi (2)
Ashlee Sullivan (2)
Tiana Sumanasekera (2)
Maliha Tressel (1)
Audree Valdenarro (1)
Sabrina Visconti (1)
Camie Westerman (1)
Halle Shea Wittenberg (1)
Leanne Wong (2)
Alicia Zhou (2)

Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 2

Jordan Chiles called the last three months “very, very difficult” in an interview about her Olympic bronze medal appeal.





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Texas Tech hoping big money and top transfers lead to unprecedented payback in football | Sports

FRISCO, Texas – Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire had already completed his portion of Big 12 football media days when Colorado’s Deion Sanders was asked if he has been paying attention to what the Red Raiders did in the transfer portal. The gist of that question was really about all the money for Texas Tech […]

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FRISCO, Texas – Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire had already completed his portion of Big 12 football media days when Colorado’s Deion Sanders was asked if he has been paying attention to what the Red Raiders did in the transfer portal.

The gist of that question was really about all the money for Texas Tech athletes, which is widely reported to be around $55 million for the upcoming school year. A significant chunk of that is expected to go toward the transformation of a football program that has never won a Big 12 title or even had a 10-win season since 2008, six years before three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Patrick Mahomes played his first game for the Red Raiders.


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Penn State Hockey’s Stacked Roster Demands Dominance Over Football

They often say in life, you have to recognize an opportunity when it becomes apparent and do everything to seize it to find ultimate success.  Penn State saw that with the ruling by the NCAA that allowed immediate eligibility for Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players, coupled with scholarship increases to 26 players, along with the […]

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They often say in life, you have to recognize an opportunity when it becomes apparent and do everything to seize it to find ultimate success. 

Penn State saw that with the ruling by the NCAA that allowed immediate eligibility for Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players, coupled with scholarship increases to 26 players, along with the ability to provide NIL opportunities, it saw an opportunity to make hockey another cornerstone program.

When Whitehorse, Yukon (Canada) native Gavin McKenna was open to the idea of playing in the United States and leaving the CHL, Penn State was ready to roll the red carpet out for the prodigy.

Penn State was already stacked with defensemen Jackson Smith, who was a five-star prospect and was selected 14th overall by the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, and Mac Gadowsky, who was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award last season. Add in goaltender Kevin Reidler and forwards Shea Van Olm, who led all WHL skaters with 49 goals last season, along with Calgary Flames prospect Luke Misa, coupled with the returns of forwards Aiden Fink, who was also a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, Charlie Cerrato, Matt DiMarsico, and JJ Wiebusch the chances of Penn State returning to the Frozen Four were excellent.

When you add in the hockey prodigy that is McKenna, things now have a chance to be historic. 

Penn State Hockey

Photo by Penn State Athletics

Typically, hockey prodigies reserved their talents up in the CHL in one of the three leagues: Ontario, Quebec, or Western, then went to the NHL because the NCAA there were no good avenues and its just how it was.

When megadonor Terry Pegula gifted Penn State nearly $102 million to jumpstart the ice hockey programs, it wasn’t meant for the programs to languish in mediocrity. The gifts took the programs from club level groups all the way to being able to compete amongst the nation’s best programs.

I don’t know how much influence Pegula had with the deal to lure McKenna from the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat, but the opportunity to bring the odds on favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft is enticing, and something Pegula would want to be part of for his alma mater that he has given so much to. 

When you think of the greatest players in NCAA history, you think of right off the bat Maine’s Jim Montgomery and Paul Kariya, Cornell netminder Ken Dryden, UMass defenseman Cale Makar, The Fusco Brothers from Harvard (Mark and Scott), or even Minnesota’s Neal Broten. 

Even with what each of those players accomplished, McKenna, Van Olm, and Smith have ample opportunity to set the bar higher. 

That is what the opportunity is in collegiate hockey with NIL and immediate eligibility, it is more lucrative opportunities for the best in hockey to play in the United States. 

The fact Penn State was able to poach so much high end WHL talent shows the direction it is going, but here in lies the opportunity to become the ultimate hockey superpower, where one typically doesn’t exist. 

In ice hockey, supremacy shifts from Denver, or one of the many Michigan, Minnesota, or Boston/Massachusetts schools, Penn State has the opportunity to be the ultimate hockey location. 

Gavin McKenna in 2024 By Kaiser matias - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=155382093

Gavin McKenna in 2024 By Kaiser matias – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=155382093

Winning a national championship and in style will only make Penn State much more aggressive for the high end talent. McKenna’s ceiling by many is Connor Bedard, John Tavares, or even Sidney Crosby. If McKenna delivers on that potential, that is the main attraction for all other hockey prodigies. 

In style, when you consider that the 1969-70 Cornell team is the only NCAA hockey team to go undefeated and 1992-93 Maine that went 42-1-2 fueled by Kariya and Montgomery is the top of the mountain for Penn State to achieve. The talent is there to do it in a dominant style that it is a legacy team for head coach Guy Gadowsky. The amount of talent he was able to secure puts him in an opportunity to have teams in the same vein as “Badger” Bob Johnson, Murray Armstrong, Red Berenson, or Jerry York. 

The key is, where the pressure is, this team will only be together once. This isn’t a team that the “band will get back together,” the NHL will be calling for all this high end talent in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Unlike football where there is a margin of error to breakthrough for them, hockey has stacked the deck so much, error is not an option. The opportunity is here for Penn State Men’s Hockey to achieve ultimate rink supremacy, not just for now but also for subsequent seasons. Penn State has the opportunity to perfect the “one and done” model for its program, something John Calipari did for a bit at Kentucky with Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. 

Fans will understand if football fails, James Franklin’s inability to win a big game is well documented, but the gap Penn State football has with its peers is not as wide as Penn State’s men’s hockey. You could even argue, hockey is only rivaled by wrestling by the talent disparity between them and the rest of the field. When you have such an advantage the pressure is great no matter how much football dominates the landscape.



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Brian Kelly responds to joke from reporter about his golf handicap: ‘I’ve had other things to do’

As LSU coach Brian Kelly spoke with reporters at SEC Media Days, a reporter joked with him about his golf handicap. It was a bit of banter during a breakout session during Monday’s opening day of the SEC Kickoff. Kelly responded by joking about how busy he’s been through June and into July. He said […]

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As LSU coach Brian Kelly spoke with reporters at SEC Media Days, a reporter joked with him about his golf handicap. It was a bit of banter during a breakout session during Monday’s opening day of the SEC Kickoff.

Kelly responded by joking about how busy he’s been through June and into July. He said he “had other things to do” as the recruiting trail heated up.

June was a big recruiting month as official visit season ramped up. LSU was busy on the trail, as well, as the program builds out a class headlined by two five-star recruits. That means Kelly didn’t necessarily have time to work on his game.

“You know what? I’ve had other things to do in the month of June. … It goes quickly,” Kelly joked during the breakout.

SEC coaches’ golf games have been a topic of discussion as of late amid Auburn’s struggles on the recruiting trail. Hugh Freeze drew criticism for hitting the links, but he pushed back on that last week during an interview with David Pollack.

LSU has 16 players as part of its 2026 recruiting class, led by Five Star Plus+ athlete Lamar Brown, who committed last week. He is the No. 2 overall player from the cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.

LSU is getting read for Year 4 under Brian Kelly and looking to rebound from an up-and-down 2024 season. The Tigers finished 9-4 overall and 5-3 in SEC play, but will have their starting quarterback in the fold once again. Garrett Nussmeier is back for one more year after opting not to declare for the NFL Draft, looking to take a leap in Year 2 as the starter.

Nussmeier threw for 4,052 yards and 29 touchdowns, to 10 interceptions. LSU has a strong history of second-year starters after Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels’ success, and the potential Top-10 pick will look to follow a similar path.

However, Brian Kelly pointed out the expectation isn’t to be either of those players. The goal, quite simply, is to win a championship.

“I would say that when you’re comparing him to Jayden Daniels and Joe Burrow, that’s a high bar for anybody, right?” Kelly said. But Garrett is at LSU because he loves LSU. He wants to lead our football team to a championship. If the Heisman follows with that, I think he’s good with that.

“I answer the question this way because all of our conversations with him aren’t about individual goals. They’re about how do I lead this football team to a championship. All we’ve seen is him leading, him being selfless. His selflessness is going to be the differentiator from last year to this year, as well as the experience he had playing against really good SEC teams.”



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Dartmouth Rowing Sending Five Student-Athletes, One Coach to World Under-23 Championships

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth rowing will have six total representatives at the World Under-23 Championships in Poland later this month. Men’s lightweight rowing is sending two athletes and a coach, men’s heavyweight rowing is sending two athletes, with one athlete from women’s rowing competing.   The Under-23 Championships are set for July 23-27 in Poznan, […]

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HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth rowing will have six total representatives at the World Under-23 Championships in Poland later this month. Men’s lightweight rowing is sending two athletes and a coach, men’s heavyweight rowing is sending two athletes, with one athlete from women’s rowing competing.
 
The Under-23 Championships are set for July 23-27 in Poznan, Poland. To learn more, please click here.
 
On the men’s lightweight side, Cosmo Hondrogen will compete for the United States as the lightweight single sculler, with Valentin Wang-Norderud rowing for Norway in the lightweight double. Head coach Trevor Michelson will also be heading to Poland as a coach of Hondrogen, and the heavyweight quad.

Hondrogen and Wang-Norderud were both key members of Dartmouth’s varsity eight that finished second in the varsity eight and in total team points at the IRA National Championship, marking the program’s top team points standing in program history. It was also Dartmouth’s first medal at nationals since 2012. The varsity eight finished with a time of 5:32.250 in the grand final, less than three seconds behind first-place Harvard and ahead of MIT, Penn, Princeton and Navy. Hondrogen sat in the six seat, with Wang-Norderud in bow.

 

For multiple years, Michelson has coached with the U.S. Under-23 team through selection camp and competition. Last year, he led the men’s four to a gold medal at the world championships.

 

Meanwhile, James Frederikson of men’s heavyweight rowing will compete for Australia in the eight, with Aron Kalmar a member of the coxless four for Hungary.

 

Frederikson was a member of the second varsity eight this past season that finished third at Eastern Sprints to earn a bronze medal. Kalmar rowed in the varsity eight, which came in second to earn silver at sprints, along with a third-place finish at the IRA National Championship — marking the Big Green varsity eight’s best finish since 1994. The varsity eight had an undefeated dual season as well.

 

On the women’s side, Áine Ley is a member of the United States Under-23 team and the eight for a second straight summer. Last year, she helped the Red, White and Blue place second in the World Championships. This past school year, Ley was a key member of the varsity eight, which finished in fourth place at the Ivy League Championship — the varsity’s best finish at Ivies since 2014. Ley was a first team All-Ivy honoree as a junior. The Big Green advanced to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2011.

 



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