Welcome to the Head of the Charles on Saturday, likely one of the longest days of the rowing year, with 34 events running (like clockwork, we might add) from 7:45am until 4pm, with awards lasting well past 6pm -- it is a day.
Club, Masters and Lightweight Singles
Given the profusion of scullers on the Charles (a highly scullable river, to boot), it's almost surprising that only one of the four singles events that opened Saturday racing went to a local--Alex Twist, a former national team athlete and longtime sculler on the Charles, finally won his first gold medal on his home water, taking the Men's Masters Single.
"I'm very proud of it, and it was something I really wanted to go for this year," said Twist. "I've been in the lightweight single for so many years, and I realized this year that the cheat code is to become a Masters rower. Move from the championship events to the Masters events and transition out of that high performance career. I'll be 40 next year, so in the Senior Masters category, and I think that might need a new winner!"
Shannon Kaplan continued her streak in the Women's Masters Event, and did it with style, beating two former Olympians for the win, Trinidad & Tobago's Aisha Chow, and Singapore's Aisyah Rafaee.
The Club Singles were won by George Lawton of the UK's Northwich Rowing Club, with a strong scull from bow #18, while the Women' Club Single was won by Green Racing Project's Simone Vorperian.
In the Lightweight Singles, Riverside's Elizabeth Martin won the Women's event by almost 40 seconds, starting from bow #4, while Whitemarsh's Justin Schmidt, starting from bow #1, held off RBC's Chris Crawley by just under 20 seconds to win, improving from third place a year ago.
Masters Fours and Eights
With fully twelve events of Masters Fours and Eights, the river really was a playground for all ages today. And while some crews were prepared to the hilt, others, well...let's say, they were just glad to be here.
At the top end of the Masters events though, nobody is getting any favors, and, in the six eights events, all crews that started with bow #1 were rowed down, including the Harvard-heavy Ex Nemo crew racing in the 50+ event that was caught by a game Marin crew that started right behind them.
"You know, they really raised the standard in the event," said Marin's Tom Loughlin of the Ex Nemo boat. "I really appreciate them showing up in the way that they did and making it a great race. We gave it everything we had. It happened to be enough today, and it's just lovely to be able to as a Masters rower, to keep being able to throw down and and be required to give your best to get in the medals."
In the Women's 50+ Eight, an all-star crew made up of ex-Canada and GB Olympians came from deep in the field at bow 29 to earn the win.
"We both raced in the coxed fours last year, and we came one and two, the Canadians beat us," said five-time GB Olympian Cath Grainger. "Then they said, 'How do you fancy teaming up for an eight this year?' And we said, absolutely. It reminds you what rowing is all about, it means there's a massive respect between everyone, there's a massive love for the sport, and there's still incredible ambition of what we could possibly do together."
Likewise, there was plenty of history in the Upper Yarra crew from Australia that took first in the 60+ Masters Eight, with ex-Olympian Peter Antonie in the stroke seat.
"This is an iconic event," said Antonie after the race. "It's all about friends who want to come and do this. We come together for camaraderie, friendship and rowing and but we want to win. We're very happy today to knock off our friends from Marin, because they are great guys, and they're so hard to bloody beat. They've won the 50s division here, and they'll probably get us next year!"
Masters Doubles
Cambridge PhD students Jenna Armstrong and Carina Graf took the win in the Women's Masters Doubles ("see, they're athletes AND scholars!" said awards presenter Mary Mazzio during the medals presentation).
"We're still full time students at Cambridge, and so we train up on the Ely in Cambridge which is a straight line!" said Graf. "This is my first time here, and I fully understand why everyone gets so excited about it. It's such a great community."
On the men's side, Maritime's Nate Kelly and Jake Watkins used starting at Bow #1 to their full advantage, using the final turn to hold off a charge from Peter and Tom Graves to seal the win.
Alumni Fours and Eights
A popular Q&A on the banks of the Charles today went like this: "How many Olympians are rowing in the Alumni Eights this year?" "All of 'em!" As advertised, the Alumni eights held many of the regatta's heavy hitters, with the Washington Men (7 Olympians) and Stanford Women (3 Olympians) claiming top honors today.
"It was really special, actually, because a lot of the guys are my classmates and roommates, stuff like that," said Washington coxswain Reilly Milne. "But now, when Simon's [van Dorp - Dutch M1x] walking around, he gets asked for photos all the time, and you're like, 'that's just my teammate, and we're just gonna go row.' And he's as friendly as ever, so it's really pretty special to see."
For Stanford US Olympian Emily Delleman, who raced in the US Women's Quad in Paris, it was also recapturing the college team spirit (among other things).
"Honestly, I don't love steering the course in the single so I was very happy to have a coxswain, especially an amazing coxswain like Leigh [Warner]," she said after the race.
"We were joking around in our boat, a lot of us were class of 2019 or 2020, even some older than that, so we were like, 'this is our year. Let go with a bang.' A lot of those Texas girls were 2022 grads, so their time will come. This is our last alumni race before we pass it down to the young kids."
The Men's Alumni Fours were won by the Crabtree Rowing Club (Cambridge University alums), while the women's event was won by Penn.
Club Fours and Eights
The Club events at the Head of the Charles truly is "rowing for everyone," with both collegiate and club teams mixing it up.
Dartmouth took the win in the Men's Club Eight, but finishing a creditable second place in what may be the most competitive eights event for Men at the Charles outside of the Champ Eight was Riverside.
Riverside seven seat Hamilton Eng, who learned how to row in high school, rowed all four years at MIT, and now continues to hold down a rowing seat at Riverside, reflected on how rowing can be a through line in life.
"The thing that stands out to me is that team camaraderie," said Eng. "You're always a part of what feels like a second family, and that's always great. The thing that changes is that you just learn more about yourself over time, either your limits or just what you can do, each and every year, and you just grow continually."
Yale led a formidable pack of college crews for the win in the Women's Club Eights, with Riverside finishing as the top club crew.
Dartmouth also won the Men's Club Fours, while Kansas claimed the win on the Women's side.
The Champ Singles and Doubles events were heavy with Olympians (those that weren't racing in the alumni eights, that is) -- see our full features on the winners of the Champ Singles here and the Champ Doubles here.
The Lightweight Doubles raced in the same event as the champ doubles, and there wasn't any hint that the removal of the lightweight events from the Olympics had dampened the enthusiasm of the lightweight rowers here in Boston.
"We work really hard," said Riverside Amel Younis, who alongside partner John Mannion captured their third title in the light double. "I think John and I have earned each other's respect. After the first race, we were friends going into it, and we became brothers coming out of it. I think we just have that trust and that bond that allows us to absolutely go for it every time the Charles comes around."
The Whitemarsh Boat Club combination of Aislinn O'Brien and Claire Friedlander took the Women's Lightweight double, beating the Canadian Olympic crew of Jenny Casson and Jill Moffatt in the process.
Para & Inclusion Events
The Saturday racing concluded with three Para events, which gave the USA Paralympic athletes, who trained in Boston during the year leading up to this summer's Paralympics, a chance to showcase their skills on their home waters. The crew won the Para Fours race, earning a win over a GB crew that was a composite of their winning Paris and Tokyo lineups.
"Honestly, I would just say that it's an honor that we hoped that we could go out and achieve, and it's so special to do it with your best friends," said coxswain Emelie Eldracher after the race. "You just go out to do the best you can and we're so grateful that it turned out this way today."
Racing with Carey Connell, his local training partner from his home in Portland, Oregon, and starting with Bow #1, US Paralympian Todd Vogt won the 22-boat Para Inclusion Double race. After the race, Vogt also his award as the USRowing Male Para-Athlete of year, and reflected on his experiences over the past year.
"That was a crazy race!" said Vogt. "Unity Boat Club, #3, passed bow #2 and we could see they were gaining on us like significantly. So I remember thinking, 'let's hold them off as long as we can.' Carrie, my partner, she steered really well, and we eked out a couple second victory. So that's pretty dramatic."
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