St. Joseph's Prep crew preparing for Henley

The prominence of the Henley Royal Regatta hangs unmistakably on a second-floor wall of the St. Joseph's Prep boathouse on Kelly Drive.

A banner chronicles the Hawks' history in the regatta's Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. Their years of participation, from 1980 through 2008, and finishes are displayed. Next to that are two pieces commemorating the Prep's 2000 championship: a framed, poster-size photo of the crew, and a portrait of the Cup.

The banner will need updating in a few weeks. For the 10th time in the last 31 years, the Hawks are Henley-bound.

The Prep's varsity eight with coxswain will travel to England next Friday and participate in the famed regatta, which will run from June 30 to July 4. The boat has seniors Colin Kane, Steve Lezynski, Brendan Courtney, and Pat McGlone; and juniors Carter Law, Zac Munsell, John McGrorty, Dean Hill, and Lou Lombardi, the coxswain.

St. Joseph's Prep is the only Philadelphia-area crew competing in the Henley Royal Regatta. In the Henley Women's Regatta, which runs Friday through Sunday, Villanova, Drexel, St. Joseph's University, and Egg Harbor Township High School are entered.

The nine Prep boys will make their first appearance at Henley. The Hawks last competed there in 2008, with an all-senior crew.

"I'm really excited about going," Lombardi said. "I think it should be tough over there, just competitive racing, but I think we're a strong and tough team as well."

"It's a great way to end my senior year at the Prep and my high school rowing career," Lezynski added.

There are two ways to get to Henley. Teams can go on their own and try to advance through qualifying races into the competition bracket. Or, as the Prep does, a team can get chosen as a select crew and placed in the bracket.

The Hawks' eight with coxswain has been undefeated this season, winning Philadelphia city, Stotesbury Cup, and Scholastic Rowing Association of America championships. The bid as a select crew came after the national regatta, enabling the Hawks to reach one of their goals.

"We don't talk a whole lot about it, but that's the ultimate," assistant coach Dan Kilpatrick said. "I mean, if you have a great season, then you compete at Henley. We try not to think that far in advance, so our goals are city championship, Stotesbury, national championship. But you're always thinking, 'Hey, this is one of the special years. This might be a Henley year.' "

Once it became a Henley year, the Hawks started to prepare for the nuances that the regatta offers.

The Prep usually competes locally on 1,500-meter, six-lane courses, with plenty of space, maybe 50 feet, between boats.

Henley has a 2,112-meter course, with a few feet between oars. And spectators will be closer to the competitors on the Thames than they are on the Schuylkill.

For the last couple of weeks, the Hawks have been rowing longer sets, or "pieces," in practices, and working on rowing in tighter quarters.

The racing at Henley is head-to-head, a style similar to the NCAA basketball tournament. Beat your opponent, and you get to race another day. Lose, and you're done. With 32 boats in the Prep's bracket, the winning team will have won races on five consecutive days.

"We haven't done any races like that at all this year. In fact, I don't think anybody on this squad has ever done that," said Hawks coach Jim Glavin, a 1965 Prep grad.

"We may have had races where's there's only two entrants, but we haven't had any races where we're racing against somebody to survive for the next day."

Then there's the five-hour time difference. To get accustomed to the time change, the Hawks planned progressively earlier morning workouts over their last week of practices on the Schuylkill.

After that, they'll have four or five practices on the Thames to get ready for the Henley and top crews from around the world.

"The level of competition is just a whole other notch," Glavin said.

Two England teams, Eton College and Abingdon, are expected to be among the top crews. The bracket also includes two other U.S. teams, both from Connecticut: Kent, which the Hawks defeated in April, and Salisbury.

"It's the top teams from the world, instead of just in the area or around the country," Courtney said. "It's a great honor to be able to represent not only our school but our country."