Rowing in Color, a podcast that amplifies the voices of color in rowing since 2020, is racing two 8+'s at this year's Head Of The Charles Regatta®. In an effort to extend the visibility and representation from their podcast episodes onto the biggest stage in rowing, we are racing an all Black Women's 8+ at 1:29 PM on Saturday, October 22, and on Sunday, October 23, we have an all BIPOC Mixed 8+ racing the Director's Challenge at 3:38 PM.
Patricia Destine, fellow co-host behind Rowing in Color, and I had always dreamed of racing competitive boats at regattas. In 2020, young rowers voted to name one of their racing shells "Rowing in Color." Moved by the impact of the podcast, Patricia and I thought a boat-naming would be the closest we'd get to bring visibility to the water.
Thankfully, we were wrong.
I shared this idea of racing competitive boats months ago with Brendan Mulvey, Director of Racing for Head of the Charles Regatta. We both volunteer our time on the HOCR x Philadelphia Gold Cup Challenge Grant Fund committee, which to date has distributed over $200k in grants internationally to 15 rowing programs that are committed to building and sustaining diversity and inclusion in our sport.
Brendan says, "this idea aligns with Head of the Charles and its mission to be a voice for positive change in the sport of rowing. We are encouraging others within the rowing community to join us, both on the water and in our communities." Other volunteers on this Grants Fund committee include Elle Carolan (Organizing Committee Member), Courtney Wilson, Rebekah Armstrong, and Kayla Cloud.
We at Rowing in Color are so grateful for HOCR's support in our vision to bring visibility onto the water. Furthermore, Rival Kit has graciously designed and provided custom unisuits and tech tees for the athletes. Concept2 is building oars for both of the 8+'s to use and HUDSON is providing an 8+ for the Black Women's 8+ to borrow. Additionally, not only is Boston University lending an 8+ for the Mixed BIPOC 8+ to borrow, but also BU Women's Lightweight Head Coach, Malcolm Doldron, is lending his expertise to the two coxswains of the 8+'s. Committed to making the sport look more like our communities, we have also partnered with local Black, woman, and veteran owned small business, Ula Cafe, located in Jamaica Plain.
Many of the rowers competing in these two 8+'s stem from a number of Rowing in Color's podcast episodes, namely:
Rowers not yet featured in episodes but included in the lineups are: Candace Burton, Kameron Lovelady, Sebastiana Lopez, Dakari Sawyers, and Rachel Wong. Courtney Wilson is assisting as team manager and has been involved with HOCR for 24+ years, holding positions including Race Director, Race Committee member, and volunteer.
Outside of the boat, many of these athletes are residents of Boston (the territory of the Massachusett, Pawtucket, and their neighbors the Wampanoag, and Nipmuc Peoples, who have stewarded this land for hundreds of generations). They're also lawyers, head rowing coaches, college academia, law enforcement, rowing non-profit directors, and present and former collegiate rowers. Their rowing pedigree ranges from first-time rowers at HOCR to a former Olympic rower.
Patricia Destine states, "We're not the diversity boat or 'different.' We're fast, competitive, and American. Both coxswains of the 8+'s are the youngest of this group, and we did that to keep passing the mic to the next generation. All the young kids of color who will see our boats and hear about our stories will know that there's a place for them too, especially at the world's largest rowing regatta, especially at the Head of the Charles."
Denise Aquino is the founder of Rowing in Color and a rowing professional with 12+ years of coaching/managerial experience. Follow Rowing in Color on Instagram @rowingincolor . Or you can reach Denise directly at denise@rowingincolor.com
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10/19/2022 1:19:48 PM