ColorTyme franchisee celebrates son's trip to the Henley Royal Regatta

(Franchise Buy) - By . Updated Feb 20, 2011

ColorTyme franchisee celebrates son's trip to the Henley Royal Regatta

CLARKSTON, Wash. - June 29, 2009 - Every July, hundreds of competitive rowing teams travel to Henley-on-Thames, England, to participate in one of the country's top sporting events: the Henley Royal Regatta. The races, which are steeped in history, attract thousands of people from all over the world. Over the course of five days, spectators will watch the boats in head-to-head, knockout competitions on a mile-long course. Among the few who get to experience this event from the inside of a boat is Greg Hughes, son to Gary Hughes - a ColorTyme and RimTyme franchise owner.

"My son is an interesting kid," explained Gary. "In the ninth grade he told me that he wanted to row. He was confident that's what he wanted to do, so I sent him to a college-prep high school in Vancouver Island - one of the top rowing schools. He rowed there for four years and they won the Canadian national championship. He then went to his first international competition at Henley in 1990. Because of his rowing skills, he went to Princeton University where he rowed for four years. He later went back to Henley in 1994 and 1996. Now he's the head coach at Princeton and he's taking the varsity crew to Henley."

Greg's success has earned him a seat in Princeton University rowing history. The school has experienced only two undefeated seasons: the first with Greg as a rower, in 1996, and the second with Greg as a coach, in 2009.

"Greg really is a great coach and athlete," said Gary. "It's an exciting life for him."

Now that Greg is competing in the Regatta, Gary plans to travel to England to see the races. This will be the first time Gary has seen Greg compete in a race series of this magnitude. Greg's entire rowing career has focused on winning the Regatta races.and Gary gets to watch it happen, in-person, from the sidelines.

"They'll be racing against the top university crews from around the world, like Oxford and Cambridge," said Gary. "I'm looking forward to watching it all."

About ColorTyme

ColorTyme, Inc ., founded in 1979, is America's oldest franchisor of independently owned-and-operated rent-to-own stores. ColorTyme franchisees operate 206 rent-to-own stores in 33 states, and the company's custom-wheels-and-tires franchise brand, RimTyme , operates 25 stores in 11 states. ColorTyme is headquartered in Plano, Texas, and is an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of the largest RTO company in the world, Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ: RCII).