Catching up with athletes at two of the regattas row2k hit this past Saturday: The Philadelphia Frostbite Regatta and the Head of the South.

Sweeping the Quads and Going Side-by-Side at the Frostbite

The Frostbite crams a lot of racing in, running flights all day instead of heats and finals, and there's nothing better than ending head race season with a sneak peak at the 2k speed folks might be working on. Toss in some first-time side-by-side racing for the novices on the lake, and you have what sometimes feels like the unofficial switch-over from "row5k" season to proper row2k time.

While the Frostbite is not the only regatta to offer 2000 meter racing (1500 for novices!) after a long fall of head racing, it always seems like the regatta where folks really start thinking about sprint race season--even if it still a few months of winter erg training away.

A stiff tailwind added a bit of a bite to the Frostbite this year, but Mercer's temps stayed in the 50s, much to the chagrin of the row2k photographer braving the 40 degrees and gusting winds in Boston to shoot these galleries of the Foot of the Charles.

Sweeping the Quad Sculls

One team at the Frostbite with success on both the men's and women's side was Nereid, whose scullers posted the top times across all the flights of the Varsity Quads.

Nereid Varsity Men's Quad

Nereid's junior men's quad, which took third at the Head Of The Charles this fall, just edged out Maritime in this 2k race, ahead of a strong challenges from Whitemarsh and Coshohocken.

"It was a fun race," said Nereid's Cam Gennardo, whose crew handled the tight racing and the whitecaps that were building towards midday.

"Great competition from Maritime who put some pressure on us at the end. The conditions were definitely tough, but we still managed to come away with the win."

For the junior women, the Nereid "B" quad stormed out to a big margin in their flight, and had a second or so in hand to claim the fastest time of the event over the Coshohocken women who won the first flight.

Nereid B, the top crew in the Varsity Women's Quad

"This quad was super excited to end fall with a bang," said Eliana Fanders, who was also in the Nereid U17 four that won up at the Charles, and had a spot in this fast Frostbite quad. "It was a bittersweet moment knowing it was the last fall race for the senior in our boat, so we wanted to end the season with a win!"

Lining Up and 'Going Fast' - A Novice's Take on Sprint Racing

One of the fun things about the Frostbite is that offers lot of high school novices one of their first chances to race side by side.

The St Peter's Prep freshmen were among the crews learning a bit more about this side of the sport this weekend, and picked up the win in their flight.

The Marauder frosh eight had already gotten their first taste of side-by-side racing with a win at the NYRA Invitational at Overpeck a week earlier, but their Frostbite win was a much tighter race all the way down the track with DC National and Chaminade's A crew. That gave the crew a much clearer sense of just how close and exciting a sprint race can become when crews line up the way they do in spring season.

Three seat Bryce Asselin called the close racing "a little nerve-wracking," even after they grabbed a small lead off the start.

St Peter's Prep working on the lead, with Asselin in three seat

"We were right next to DC National the whole time, and we really didn't go with our game plan," said Asselin. "We were supposed to settle into a 32 and we kept it at 35 the whole time, but we stayed close to them. After we did a power 10, and then another one in the middle, we pulled a few seats ahead. Then we did a power 20 at the very end, and pulled a decent amount ahead."

After two weekends of getting to do side-by-side racing, Asselin said he now sees why the older, varsity guys at St. Peter's have been telling him and the other freshmen that sprint racing is exciting.

"It's definitely a lot more fun, and that's what they've been saying, because you're closer to the competition, and you know that you've won in real time.

He said that his favorite part of sprint racing is "going fast."

"Our boat's really fast, and that's a tribute to everybody on the team, pushing hard on the legs the whole time, and Coach McKenna doing his job really well. We went in, in August, not knowing a single thing about rowing. And now we've had five regattas, and our eight has won four of them."

Resilience and Tripling-up on Medals at Head of the South

The Head of the South

This year's successful Head of the South Regatta required some heavy lifting after the Hurricane Helene swept through the region in September.

"Helene certainly posed some significant concerns for us to be ready," said Kirsten Aylward, the president of the August Rowing Club, which puts on the race each year.

The post storm flooding on the Savannah River, which Aylward called "significant," forced them to relocate the finish line, making the course about 150 meters shorter.

"Debris was another challenge brought on by the flooding, but fortunately most of this cleared by the time the race course was set. Sticky river mud on the dock ramps and the banks had to be cleared as well."

Aylward said that even securing hotel rooms was a challenge due to the large numbers of first responders still in the area.

"Overall, we were extremely fortunate, especially in light of the devastation that occurred in our area," Aylward said. "We hope that all those who attended had a great regatta and will join us again next year. A very special thank you goes out to our partners, volunteers, local organizations, and businesses who helped us make the regatta a reality."

The coaches and athletes noticed the club's efforts to keep the event afloat this year.

"The community in Augusta was hit hard by the hurricane this fall season, and they still ran a great regatta" said Will White, the head coach of Triangle Rowing, who comes down from North Carolina with a full squad every year.

White praised the resilience and the efforts of the Augusta Rowing Club, saying, "the clean up required just to get the waterway and venue ready for a regatta was a huge task."

Triangle Rowing senior Alice Clark agreed with her coach.

"After all the hurricane mess, they put in the work to make sure this regatta still ran," Clark said, "so we really appreciate them. Head of the South is one of our favorite regattas."

Asheville Juniors Recover to Win Men's Four

Another post-Helene success story at the Head of the South was Asheville Youth Rowing winning the junior men's four, at the end of a fall that began with the hurricane barreling through their hometowns.

While the club's equipment and boathouse survived, head coach Rudy Ryback said the team had to relocate from their home lake after the storm.

"We were told to vacate because all the surrounding trees needed to be certified by an arborist," he said. "We moved rowing operations to Lake Summit, [but] it was a trek, and we decided to row there three days per week. The other two days we moved ergs to a church.

"Training went on for a couple of weeks this way and started to hit a rhythm. We actually had a good week of training, coming off the Hooch.

"At the Head of the South, I told the guys in the JM4+ that we have the fitness for one great race. Since it was their first one, it played into our hand. They were stoked for a win, and this sent the team onto cloud 9."

Asheville's Youth Rowing's Men's Four

Asher Linton, captain of the men's team, raced 3 seat in the crew and talked about how the team worked through the challenges of the past two months.

"Getting back on the water after Hurricane Helene was super awesome, as we had all missed it," Asher said, "but it was also a struggle because of how the storm affected all aspects of our lives.

"With all of us having to travel 30-40 minutes further to train at our temporary facilities, I knew we would have to put in even more effort in order to compete this year. I am very proud of our whole team for the commitment and focus they showed each and every day at practice, and when all that work paid off for our four, I couldn't believe that we had won. It was a great way for our team to finish the season."

Triangle-rs Triple-Up To Close Out A Final Fall

Among the many athletes who doubled and even tripled up at the Head of the South, Triangle Rowing seniors Alice Clark and Sarah Knox Harper had themselves a speedy, three medal day to cap off their final head race as high schoolers.

The duo won the pair, and then hopped right into the eight with teammate Ellery Eward, who won the junior women's single. They took second in the eight and then ended their busy day with a win in the junior women's four.

Clark and Harper getting the day going in the pair

"The pair race did feel good," said Clark, who stroked all three crews. "We were hoping for a good result when we got back on land, and then when we found out that we did well, and that Ellery did as well, beating every other single there, being able to hop into the eight with the rest of our teammates, and to build off of that was pretty big for us. It added onto the excitement, being able to share it with the rest of our boat."

The pair, it turns out, is the boat Clark and Harper spend the least amount of time rowing: this was just their third row as a pair and their first race. A lot of their fall was spent getting the four ready for the Head Of The Charles and since the Boston trip they've been training in the eight and only getting back in the four at races.

"We fit together pretty well," said Harper about being able to make the pair without spending a lot of time on it.

"We're stern pair in the four, we're stern pair in the eight, so all I see is her back [laughing]. It clicked well. On the warm up, we did a few fifteens, with five to build into race pace, and it felt like we worked out the quirks."

Clark did admit they getting back in the bigger boats always requires a mindshift.

"It always is such a weird feeling, going from having one other person in the boat to eight other people in the boat," said Clark. "As stroke, I really have to focus on how, in our eight, we really like to hold the finish, but not so much in the pair, because there's not as much run there. The basis of the stroke remains the same, but I really have to think about how there's so much more power in the eight, and I have to reconstruct my stroke a little bit to harness all the power of these other seven people pulling."

Round 2, stern pair in the eight

"As you get into bigger boats, the energy just builds," Harper added. "I thrive off of other people's energy, so the bigger the boat, the more I feel that I have to do this for the other people, it's not just for me."

For both, ending the regatta, and the fall head racing season, with the win in the four felt perfect for the two seniors.

"It was almost a redemption row," said Clark. "We had an okay race at the Charles and then the Hooch was okay, too, but we never really felt like we really reached our potential.

"Having that last race, at our last ever fall regatta in our high school careers, and it being our literal last race of that regatta, we crossed the finish line and we felt, yes, that is exactly what we wanted. We executed right to our plan and it was such a good feeling to cross that finish line with all my best friends, and that being our last fall regatta."

Harper noted that the four really became the race they poured everything into.

"I feel like we felt like we did well in the eight, but I think we all agreed we could have done better. So we got in the four thinking we have to empty everything we have. This is our last ever head race with these girls, and we wanted it to be our best."

Round 3, the perfect finish in the four

"Our whole team dynamic this weekend was so fun," Harper added. "When we were racing the pair, the whole team had just gotten off the bus and they were at the tent, screaming for us, all the novices and the rest of the varsity squad. For every race, we had that, and everyone was so supportive each other.

"At the 1k left, when you're so tired, you get that lift when you can hear your team."

"That's something that we really value about the Head of the South," said Clark. "All of our athletes get to come and being able to hear our teammates and the people who pushed us to be out on the water and in that boat cheering us on, that's something that Sarah Knox and I really value. That's why it's so important to us to be able to hear them."