Here's something you don't see very often, racing in front of a waterfall! This is the Great Falls of the Androscoggin River in Lewiston, Maine for the Riverfest Regatta in July. The race is an out and back with a stakeboat turn with both the start and the finish directly in front of the bridge in view.

While the waterfall looks quite close to the bridge, it's actually a little over 200 meters past the bridge. This was our first time covering this event so we don't have first hand knowledge of what the river normally looks like, but based off conversation with locals, the waterfall at that time of the year is typically just a dribble of water. Some heavy thunderstorms rolled through the area at 2am before the regatta, with the resulting rain turning the fall in to a torrent.

This image is featured in the 2024 row2k Wall calendar, and more images can be viewed in our race gallery.