The Freshmen Eight’s suspenseful run through the Henley Royal Regatta’s Temple Challenge Cup came to a halt on Saturday, as the Cardinal was defeated by two lengths in its semifinal race against Trinity College. Although its successes were brought to a stop, the Frosh Eight completed an intensive debut run at the Henley Royal Regatta, getting a genuine taste of competing internationally and rowing in front of crowds of over 20,000 in the process.

“It was a tough way to end the regatta, but the guys showed tremendous growth here in England,” frosh coach Pete Giese told GoStanford.com. “To make it to the semifinals of such a great international race is really an honor and a testament to the hard work these young men put in all year [ . . . ]. Trinity was strong, composed and extremely well coached. Coach Gluckman had his crew primed to race today and they looked very strong. Our hats go off to them.”

Seventy-five boats entered the Temple Challenge Cup this year and Stanford made it to the final four of the draw. On its journey there, the team defeated boats from South Africa and England in the first two rounds, and then scored a memorable quarterfinal victory over Cornell, the defending varsity lightweight national champion, on the Fourth of July.