New Millennium International Boat Race
January 1, 2000

The first seconds of the new Millennium marked the start of the first international rowing regatta of the Millennium. Three international fours with coxswain shells sprinkled with Olympic medalists from New Zealand, the UK and the USA lined up on their 1000 meter home courses in Hamilton, New Zealand, on the the tideway portion of the lower Thames River in London in England, and on the San Francisco Bay in the United States, at the very moment the new Millennium began in the World's first time zone in New Zealand.
     The coxswains of each crew were connected by cell phones via an international conference call hookup to receive the starting signals precisely at the stroke of midnight December 31st, New Zealand time. A fourth party to the call in California recorded the voice commands of each coxswain, as they urged their crews to the finish line. That same listener timed each crew on a computer which graphically tracked the progress and relative positions of each crew in real time from start to finish. The results of this first international boat race of the new Millennium are posted here.
     New Zealand was composed of members of former New Zealand national and Olympic teams. The UK rowers rowed as the Tideway Scullers, and the USA was represented by the Kent Mitchell Rowing Club, a group of USA Olympic and World Championship medalists.
     The average ages of the members of these crews is 47 and 53.
     For more information, e-mail Kent Mitchell at kent@jamcotimes.com.