So, what are people going to remember from HOCR Saturday 2023? The weather, or the 15 course records set today? "Hopefully both!" said an optimistic HOCR official, and he was probably right.
While the footpaths got a little muddy, and the athletes and spectators got more than a little soggy, racing was spectacular, as crews across the spectrum, from the Club Singles, to the Alumni crews, Masters and Champ events beat the weather and the clock on the track today.
Champ Singles: Show Me the Money
Lightweight Michelle Sechser and ex-Lightweight Sorin Koszyk (who showed up to the awards ceremony in a damp, but serviceable "Cornell 150s" jacket) hit the proverbial and real jackpot today, each taking home a check for $10,000 for winning the Champ Singles events.
For Sechser, who started sixth, behind last year's winner Emily Kallfelz, world silver medalist Emma Twigg, and USA women's single Kara Kohler, a risky race strategy paid off.
"I knew I couldn't beat my competitors on power,or height, or length, so I knew that I had to be incredibly aggressive, incredibly tenacious, and really use my body weight on the drive," said Sechser. "The first 2500 meters of the race, I set a really aggressive rhythm with a really aggressive stroke rating, certainly toeing the line of a fly-and-die race. I paced really aggressively, I thought I was going to die, then I dug my heels in and committed to the race, and it all worked out."
And about the money? "That check goes right back into my dreams of chasing the Paris Olympics next summer!" said Sechser.
Sorin Koszyk faced a true "murderers row" in his event, with a top-7 starting grid of USA M8+ rower Chris Carlson, NZ M8+ olympic champ and Worlds 1x medalist Thom Mackintosh, the USA's 2023 M1x Finn Putnam, Irish Lightweight world and Olympic Champ Paul O'Donovan, USA M8+ rower and two-time Junior World champ in the single Clark Dean, and previous HOCR Champ 1x winner Ben Davison, Koszyk's own doubles partner.
Starting 7th, Koszyk moved consistently across the field, and finished in 16:57, a new course record, and one of the fastest single sculling performances in the regatta's history.
Koszyk noted that he didn't prepare in any special way for the event. "Nothing crazy, not worrying too much about the course, go as hard as you can and don't get any penalties, and don't hit any bridges."
"With the guys that I train with, I knew where I stood with them," he said, reflecting on the depth of the field. "It makes it more meaningful, if no one shows up, what's the point."
As far as looking ahead to the Olympic year is concerned, Koszyk had a clear view. "Ben [Davison] and I are a good double, we know we fast, we've shown it consistently, we had one bad race this summer, now we have six months to get even faster."
Champ Singles runners-up Emma Twigg and Thom Mackintosh, both from New Zealand, each took home a check for $5000.
Many of these single scullers are doubling into team boats tomorrow; while doubling at the HOCR is normally not allowed, the regatta has added a carve-out to its rules so that elite athletes can row more than one event. The letter of the rule is: "Athletes who race in an Olympic boat class at the World Rowing Championships or at the Olympic Games in the current calendar year may row in an HOCR Championship event representing their national team, or in an Invitational Exhibition Entry, and in an additional Alumni or Championship event of their choosing."
Champ Doubles: Luwis and Boersen Shine
Sophia Luwis and Audrey Boersen from the Whitemarsh Boat Club took the women's champ double, crushing the field by almost a minute; for Luwis, who finished third in the lightweight single at the World Championships in August, the result continues her incredible comeback from a car accident a little over a year ago that derailed her rowing path significantly for many months.
What made today's win at the Charles even more meaningful was that Boersen was in the car with her, and had to complete her own comeback.
"It's really cool to have a built-in best friend for all of this," said Luwis after the race. "There's somebody who understands all of the stuff that I'm dealing with, and I don't have to explain it."
"I'm sure it happens in other sports, but I've only ever heard about it in rowing where, for some reason, something just clicks. You couldn't pick two people out of a crowd, you couldn't say, 'their erg scores match,' or 'their body types match, let's put 'em in a boat.' For us, it was just, you get in the boat, and then some chemistry happens, and you say 'Oh Shoot!' and we feel it quite often."
Reflecting on the past year, Luwis said, "it's only at an event like this, or after racing, when I take a second and think, 'A year ago, I was here spectating, but I couldn't even think about rowing.'"
And as far the future, Luwis and Boersen were not getting ahead of themselves. "One day at a time. The goal is the Olympics, we have one more shot at it before they take the lightweight double out of the program."
Club (and Not-so Club) Events
College crews all but overwhelmed the Men's and Women's Club events, with collegiate crews winning all four races. The Dartmouth men and Duke women took the Club Fours, while the Brown Men and Yale Women claimed the Club eights.
The "deepest" win in the Club events came from Dartmouth, who raced from bow #26 to the win in the Men's Club Fours.
"It feels amazing, it was a great race with the lads," said two seat Sam Rothschild. "Coming from the UK, it's a big deal to race in the Head of the Charles."
For Dartmouth stroke Francesco Dembinski, the race was somewhat of a redemption row, as a back injury had kept him out of rowing for the better part of the last two years. "I'm super stoked to be back after a long injury, this is my first race back."
Check out our look at a couple of new winners in the Club Singles events, as well as the seemingly ever-increasing speed of the men's and women's alumni eights.
Gevvie Stone: Hometown Row from Afar
After so many years and wins, Gevvie Stone winning a singles event at the Charles is not really big news. This year's win, however, was unusual for Stone in that she spent the year away from Boston doing medical training in Salt Lake City.
"This year feels different because I'm returning home," said Stone. "Utah crew has been amazing in welcoming me into their boat club, they are usually only juniors, but they allowed me to borrow a boat whenever I wanted. It's had its own challenges for sure, rowing on 1.9 kilometers of water, without anyone, but it has confirmed that I love rowing, it's a world away from Boston and having a community around you when you're out there alone."
"The regatta is almost more special when you return to it. I arrived on Friday morning, and it was 'wham, bam, Head of the Charles!' The field is always getting closer, so I have to keep training!"
Masters Big Boats
The Masters racing on Saturday at HOCR sees twelve events of eights and fours, all the way from the 30+ to the 70+ age categories; some of these boats look really good--these folks are still putting in the hours.
"We've been together for about five years now," said Curt Browder, who rowed in the winning Ex Nemo entry in the Men's 50+ Eights event. "We've been adding pieces little by little to get things right, and we've tried to maintain or improve our speed each year."
So how did Browder, who rowed at North Carolina-Wilmington, come to row in crew that is mostly Harvard alumni? "In the early 2000s, I went to the Power 10 dinner in New York, and was asked if I wanted to sub in for another athlete at the San Diego Crew Classic, and the rest is history. You develop a trust with the people you row with, they know I'm training hard, I know they're training hard, and this is what we've committed ourselves to."
And does Browder ever take any heat for being the state school guy in the crew? "Yeah, they give me some crap, but it's all in good fun. I'd feel left out if they didn't!"
California's Marin Rowing Assn. seems to have all their bases covered in the Men's Masters Eights, winning the 40+ and 60+ events, while finishing second to Browder's Ex Nemo crew in the 50+ event.
It's not all "just" work however, as many Masters crews are bonded by either years together, or simply the shared love of rowing.
"Our group has changed a little bit over time, but there are four of us in the eight that were on the 1980 Olympic team," said Bets Kent, who raced in the appropriately named 1980 Rowing Club crew that won the 70+ Women's Eights event. "It's always a new experience, especially because of the aging process, but when we get back in the boat, we are quiet and focused and just trying to recreate what we had back then."
Para Showdown
It's a sign of the healthy and steady development of para rowing, both at the Charles and worldwide when you can have a showdown between really good para crews like we had today; racing in the Para Fours, the '21 Paralympic Four, which placed second, faced off against this year's Para crew from the World Championships, also silver medallists. The "youngsters," this year's World Champs crew of Alex Flynn, Skylar Dahl, Saige Harper, Ben Washburne and coxswain Emelie Eldracher took the win ahead of John Tanguay, Charlie Nordin, Dani Hansen, Allie Reilly and coxswain Karen Petrik.
The Boys in the Boat are Everywhere
With George Clooney's (admittedly pretty awesome-looking) movie adaptation of Daniel James Brown's book about the 1936 Univ. of Washington crew that won the Berlin Olympics coming this Christmas, the presence of BITB paraphenalia at the regatta is hard to overlook; here's hoping that some healthy rowing hype comes out of this.
For more of the chatter and today's who-what-where at the Charles, check out our Saturday edition of the Notes from the Course!
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