Bowdoin College Rowing

At the 75th Anniversary of the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia  on May 10-11, four Bowdoin crews advanced to the semi finals and from there the women advanced to win the Varsity Four DII-III!  It was the 5th consecutive year of medals for the women and the first gold since they won the inaugural event for DII-III in 2009.  Bonnie Cao ‘13 coxed for stroke Mary Bryan Barksdale ‘15, Catherine Yochum ‘15, Courtney Payne ‘15, and Samantha Burns ‘13.

The crew won the New England Championships on May 4th and were  keen to test themselves at the national level.  The Dad Vail is the largest collegiate regatta in the country, with competitors from CA  to FLA and everywhere in between.

Cao, Barksdale, Yochum and Burns were together in the crew that won the College Four at Boston’s  Head of The Charles Regatta in October, so the victory in Philadelphia ices the cake on an amazing season.

Bowdoin’s other 3 entries raced in the Varsity Men’s Four, the Varsity Men’s Lightweight Four, and the Novice Women’s Four.  All three crews distinguished themselves by advancing to the semi finals on Sat. morning to place them in the top third of all competitors at the regatta.

Complete results at dadvail.org or row2k.com

At the New England Rowing Championships on May 4th at historic Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA, the Bowdoin Navy dominated the six events for four oared crews by winning four of the events and finishing third and fourth in the other two races. The team finished 7th out of 32 schools in total points without competing in any of the events for eights.

In the Varsity Women’s Four, coxswain Bonnie Cao ‘13
brought her boat across the line 15 seconds ahead of 2nd place Connecticut College for the biggest win of the day. Mary Bryan Barksdale ‘15 stroked the crew of Catherine Yochum ‘15, Courtney Payne ‘15 and Samantha Burns ‘13.

The Men’s Varsity Four was the closest race of the regatta, with Bowdoin’s crew edging out a hard driving boat from Wentworth Institute of Technology by .079! Coxswain Jen Helble ‘14 drove stroke Cal Brooks ‘15, Tucker Colvin ‘13, Mark Endrizzi ‘15, and Chris Breen ‘15 to a length’s lead at 1500 meters and hung on just enough as the WIT boat surged in the last 150 meters to close the gap.

The W2V staged a similar assault on Connecticut College who looked uncatchable at 1500 m. But coxswain Sophie Berube ‘16 and stroke Nora Hefner ‘16 lit a fire under Amy Spens ‘15, Amanda Maisel ‘15, and Emily Weinberger ‘15 for a dramatic come back to beat Conn by .79.

Head Coxswain Julia MacDonald ‘13 pushed her crew of Nathan Post ‘15, Ben Geyman ‘16, Jack Wostrel ‘15 and Brock Cassidy ‘15 as hard as she could to claim 4th in the M2V in a close finish that saw 2nd, 3rd and 4th within 3 seconds of one another.

The Novice Women snuck past a very sturdy Amherst crew to take the gold in the last 500 meters. Coxswain Claire Velez ‘16 drove for stroke Mary Frances Harris ‘16, Bailey Moritz ‘16, Erica Hummel ‘16, and Lila Wright ‘16.

The Novice Men gave one of the most dramatic performances of the day. Coxswain Claire Schollaert ‘16 had her men moving even with first place Bates in the last 300 meters when a boat stopping crab put the Bowdoin crew in the back of the pack. Schollaert rallied stroke Trevor McDonald ‘15, Evan Eklund ‘16, Evan Bulman ‘16 and Martin Shott ‘16 to a heart pounding recovery to claim the bronze.

These six crews put on a dominating display of depth and determination that won them 7th place overall in spite of competing in only 6 of the 14 events in the regatta!

Next week, 4 crews make the pilgrimage to Philadelphia for the 75th Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta where our top boats should be contenders for the medals.

The Bowdoin Rowing Club dominated the racing at the Riverhawk Racing Series hosted by UMASS Lowell on Sat. April 20. Bowdoin won in the Varsity events for Men and Women with decisive open water gaps. In the JV races Polar A and B crews placed first and second in both the Men’s and Women’s events. The Novice Women won by lengths of open water and the Novice Men crossed the line first and third, but a penalty for lane violation cost the first boat its win and backed it down to 4th. The Navy races 4/21 at The President’s Cup with Bates and Colby in Greene, ME. Complete results at row2k.com.

After a terrific training trip to good old Camp Bob Cooper, The Navy is off to a speedy beginning to spring season.
At The Big Three with Amherst and Middlebury on April 13, Bowdoin won 4 of the 8 events for fours, and was second in the remaining 4. In the Eights, Bowdoin finished just a length behind Midlebury in hard fought rows up the Connecticut.

The Varsity Women, Varsity Men, Lightweight Men, and Novice Men all posted victories while the Second and Third Women, Novice Women and Second Men raced hard to claim second in thier events. Bowdoin’s Second Novice Men finished third in the Novice Men’s race, fast enough to beat Amherst’s First Novice entry.

Next weekend the Navy travels to Lowell, MA to the Riverhawk Racing Series with UMASS and others, and on Sunday contests the President’s Cup with Colby and Bates at Greene, ME.

From left to right, Katie Ross ’14, Catherine Yochum, ’15, Bonnie Cao ’13, Mary Bryan Barksdale ’15, Sam Burns ’13

At The Head of The Charles on Oct. 20th 2012, Bowdoin crews made Navy history as both the women and the men earned medals in this classic fall festival of rowing. Racing in the College Fours event, both crews pulled with enormous determination and just plain guts as they attacked the course from beginning to end. When results were posted, the men repeated a medal winning row from 2011, and the women won Bowdoin’s first gold at The Charles. It was glorious.

Starting with bow #4, the men were on track to challenge for the gold themselves. They won the Snake the week before and were the first college crew by over a minute in their silver medal row at the Textile. They took to the Charles rowing really strongly to Cambridge Boat Club but there they snagged a branch on the skeg which caused a brush with Fordham’s stern and forced the Bears to stop briefly and move to the outside of the slower crew. Coxswain Jen Helble ‘14 quickly brought her boat to speed, but the pause cost them valuable time. The University of Virginia repeated as winner, and Bowdoin came 5th with Michigan, Michigan State, and Milwaukee School of Engineering ahead of them. It takes an extraordinary effort to regain racing speed after a stop that late in the race, but these men had a gutsy recovery that earned them a medal for a second consecutive year.

And the women won the Gold for Bowdoin’s first trip to the Awards Ceremony! After winning both the Textile and the Snake earlier in the season, these women were convinced they could take the Charles. Senior coxswain Bonnie Cao called and steered an aggressive race for her ambitious crew. Starting with bow #5, the Bears left #6 Penn State in their wake early while passing Wheaton, U. of Chicago, and Middlebury before rounding through Eliot St. and closing on bow #1 Hamilton. Guts to glory: Bowdoin won by 5 seconds over Grand Valley State with Clemson and Trinity in 3rd and 4th.

Both these men’s and women’s crews set a standard of commitment and determination that carried over to Sunday’s racing. In another milestone for the Navy, Bowdoin entered both men and women in the College Eights on Oct. 21. Racing at the Charles has a way of transforming crews, and both these boats had their best races of the season as they mirrored the spirit and intensity of the fours.

Our alumni men were racing as Polar Rowing in the Club Four on Sat. and were sadly afflicted by The Curse of The Skeg, which seems to have found a home with us! Rowing to the start, they struck something lurking below the surface and sheared off the skeg and rudder, in an uncanny repeat of the 2010 men’s four at the Charles, and the 2012 incident at Dad Vail.  They docked at MIT where a boatman was able to supply a new skeg, but did not have time to replace the rudder, so these guys gamely cast off and rowed the course without steerage beyond what they could provide by pulling. They finished with 4 penalties on the buoys, worth 90 seconds, but still beat one crew!

The Charles offered up its usual surprises, dramas, and this year,  a victory for the Navy. Thanks to all the alums and families and friends who joined the racers for 2 days of historic proportions in the world’s most famous fall regatta. Soon enough it’s into the gym with anticipation of spring’s sprints, but for now, it’s time to enjoy the glories of this fall’s golden season.

We had a great day of racing at the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta in Worcester on 10/13.

Both men and women repeated last year’s  gold medal sweep in the fours events; the men beat 2nd place Vt. by :32 and the women zoomed to a :52 win over Amherst in 2nd.  The novice men and women came in first among the novice entries, with the Novice Women stealing the show with a 6th place finish among all crews!  In the eights, the men were 20th and the women 23rd. Complete results are at snake.qra.org.

Now it’s on to the Charles on Oct. 20-21.  We’re racing both men and women in the College Fours on Sat. and the College Eights on Sun.

An alumni boat of men will race in the Club Four on Sat as Polar Rowing.  And our own Molly Taft ‘11 is bow seat in the Riverside crew in the Club Eight, and John and Christine Haines have a spot in the Director’s Challenge Mixed Double, all on Sat.

The trailer will most likely be parked at the FALS lot, and we hope you’ll swing by to say hello and greet the team.  Sat. night’s alumni gathering will be at Asgard Pub and Restaurant at 350 Mass Ave in Cambridge starting at 7:15.

Based on our results in the fours this fall we should be competing for top spots in those events, so be sure to come out and holler for the Bears!

Let’s Go Black!

The Fall Racing Season opened with The Textile River Regatta on Sunday 9/30, during Bowdoin’s Family Weekend.

On Sat. we welcomed rowing families at the Boathouse where we dedicated the Tafts’ gift of our new Pocock K4, announced a major gift to the endowment, and gave folks a chance to try a hand at the oar in the eights. Then we loaded the trailer to head to Lowell for the annual opener on the Merrimack River.

Many families made their way to the river and the great spirit of Sat.’s fesitivites made its way with them. And the crews were fast!

The Varsity Women won the Open 4 by :29 with an agressive row over the top of the course and impressive finish below the bridge.

The Varsity Men in the Open 4 zoomed to silver with a similar race plan, only :11 behind home course powerhouse Merrimack and :12 ahead of Riverside. WPI was the closest collegiate crew over a minute behind the Bears.

The Novice Men opened the medal run in the morning in the 4 with a silver, and two Novice Women’s 4’s dashed to bronze and a 5th.

Scott Mitchell powered his way to a bronze in the Club 1x, just 2 seconds out of silver.

In the eights, the both WN8 and MN8 were 4th, and the VM8 came 11th while the WV8 was 12th.

And a four full of alumni men prepping for the Charles came 11th in the Open 4!

All around, it was a wonderful fall weekend, and thanks go out to rowing families and the rowers themselves for making it so fun to race boats!

After sweeping the varsity fours events at New Englands the Bowdoin Navy headed to Philadelphia for the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta and iced the season’s  cake with  with three crews advancing to the semis,  a silver medal for the women in the D-2/3 Varsity Four, and lessons learned in Lane 0.

Coxswain Bonnie Cao ’13 drove her crew of stroke Caroline Ciocca ’12, Heather Kinnear ’12, Courtney Payne ’15, and Katie Ross ’14 to a photo finish with Philadelphia University while a strong Nova SE crew won by 4 seconds.  This Bowdoin crew demonstrated the heart  of the whole team with a determined and powerful sprint that just never backed down from the challenge.  This silver  extends Bowdoin’s medal winning streak in this event to 4 years, including the gold in 2009, silver in 2010, and bronze in 2011.  Ciocca and Kinnear have been in the medal crews  for the last 3 years!

Both the Novice Men and Varsity Men advanced to the semis showing the depth of the team in national level competition.  Coxswain Bridgett McCoy ’15 had the reins for stroke Jack Wostrel ’15, Brock Cassidy ’15, Nathan Post ’15 and Bryce Ervin ’15.  This crew surprised the field, but not themselves,  with its second place finish in the qualifier; they raced with the same confidence and determination that characterizes each of our top boats, and carried those qualities to the semi as well, even though they did not advance.

The Varsity Men get the prize for the highest drama of all our entries. As the saying goes,  “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.” After winning the gold at New Englands, coxswain Christine Buckland ’12, Dan Polasky ’12, Tucker Colvin ’13, Cal Brooks ’15 and Mark Endrizzi ’15  came to Philadelphia with high hopes for  contesting a medal.  But in the Friday qualifier, they hit a submerged log at 500 meters which sheared off the skeg and rudder, and forced them out of the race.  Fortunately, Cal’s mother, Beth Goodman, is also a lawyer, and her maternal and legal drive quickly called up the USRA Rules of Rowing where she found grounds to appeal the result.  The appeal was succesful and the crew was placed in a semi for Sat. out in Lane 0 next to the wall. Thanks to our friends at Amherst and Gerry Quinlan at St. Joe’s we got the parts needed for John Tytus of Pocock to repair the skeg and rudder.   In the semi the crew staged an all out assault, but from that outside lane couldn’t quite catch the leaders to advance to the finals.

The Head Referee complimented these men by saying that in his years on the river he had never seen such a good result from that lane.  And Anne-Marie Barron, Christine’s mom, wrote the crew a note worthy of gold in itself. A bit of it reads,

“…if the playing field had been level…you would have had incredible results at Dad Vail- your entire season is evidence of that.  Yet in spite of profound disappointment…your grace, dignity, integrity, and courage stand as indicators of the champions you truly are…”

The Novice Women tasted some disappointment as well.  Coxie Alex Lynds ’15, stroke Anna Westervelet ’14, Catherine Yochum ’15, Emily Weinberger ’15, and Mary Bryan Barksdale ’15 were racing as a new line up and rowed their hearts out, but were just not quite fast enough to advance.  Their intensity and desire bode well for seasons to come.

And finally, kudos to our two scullers in the exhibition singles.  Neither Elliott Munn ’12 nor Samantha Burns ’13 advanced from the qualifiers, but both finished with big grins after racing hard on the Schuylkill.  These two embodied what it means to be a part of Bowdoin Navy, and as we close the books on the 25th Anniversary of The Restoration of Rowing at Bowdoin, their effort is captured by another part of Anne-Marie’s note:

“…commitment to one another and common values and shared goals, taking the work seriously but not the self too seriously, always being ready to offer and receive support and compassion during times of challenge, and laughing often- are among the secrets of true success.”

The Dad Vail this year was truly icing on the cake of a great season, full of great results and lessons learned.

At the close of its 25th Anniversary Season, The Bowdoin Navy found some racing alchemy that turned the silver commemoration into Gold! On May 5th at the New England Rowing Championships on historic Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA, Bowdoin advanced all 6 of its entries to the Grand Finals and once there, took 4 gold medals.

The Novice Men’s Four, with cox Bridgett McCoy ’15, stroke Jack Wostrel ’15, Chris Breen ’15, Nathan Post ’15 and Bryce Ervin ’15 rowed its fastest time of the season in finishing 6th in the Grand.  The Novice Women’s Four beat its 8th place seed by finishing 5th under the helm of Ashley Talbot ’15, and with stroke Julia O’Keefe ’15, Catherine Yochum ’15, Amanda Maisel ’15 and Helen Mohney ’15.

All four of the upper boats moved through the morning heats with confidence and poise, and in the afternoon finals showed determination and patience with big moves in the final stages of the 2000 meter course to claim the gold.

The medal run started with the W2V4 moving through the course ahead of the field in a three way race with Holy Cross and Trinity.  Over the last 300 meters coxswain Alex Lynds ’15 moved her crew of stroke Anna Westervelt ’14, Emily Weinberger ’15, Sam Burns ’13, and Mary Bryan Barksdale ’15 into position for a closing sprint which earned the win in the closest finish of the day, taking the gold with a 2.3 second gap over Holy Cross with Trinity back by 7 seconds in 3rd.

The M2V4 staged a similar finish with a decisive move over the last 200 meters to best rivals Vermont and Amherst by 3 and 4 seconds respectively. Stroke Elliott Munn ’12, Scott Mitchell ’15, Tom Marcello ’12, and Capt. Morgan Andersen ’12 took the calls from coxswain Jen Helble ’14. For the 3 seniors it was an especially satisfying finish to their season and collegiate careers.

The WV4 gave a characteristically dominant performance leading Connecticut College and Amherst over the  course and pulling away in the last 500 meters to beat the Camels by 7.6 and the Jeffs by 8.8 seconds.  Bonnie Cao coxed for Capt. and stroke Caroline Ciocca ’12, Heather Kinnear ’12, Courtney Payne ’15, and Katie Ross ’14.  This win extended a 3 year streak of silver medals at NE’s with a 4th year in the Gold!

The last race of the sweep was the MV4.  At the starting line, the gold could have gone to any of the three top seeded crews.  Christine Buckland ’12 had the helm and the calls for stroke Dan Polasky ’12, Tucker Colvin ’13, Cal Brooks ’15, and Mark Endrizzi ’15.  Behind at the start, the crew moved patiently through the fleet to set up the finish.  At 1500 meters Bowdoin put on a perfectly executed drive to the line to beat Wentworth by 3.2 and Vermont by 8.9 seconds.

What better way to finish off the  Celebration of The 25th Anniversary of the Restoration of Rowing at Bowdoin! From the modest beginnings of modern rowing in 1986, The Bowdoin Navy has become a dominant force in small boat rowing in New England. In 2012 the hard working athletes of the Bowdoin Crew found the secret of turning silver into gold!

Click here for results!

With its strongest spring start in years, the Bowdoin Navy is anticipating an equally strong finish as we head into the championship phase of the spring.

On Sunday 4/22 the Varsity Men and Women both won their events at the President’s Cup with Colby and Bates before racing was suspended due to high winds and waves on the Androscoggin.  The day before at the Riverhawk Racing Series at UMASS, these 2 crews finished within a second of their rivals  at UVM.  Both Men’s and Women’s Second Varsity crews won their events.

At The Big Three on 4/14 Amherst hosted Bowdoin and Middlebury and the Polar Bears came away with wins in the Men’s and Women’s Varsity Fours, and the Men’s 2V4. The W2V took 2nd, and the Novice Men and Women were 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The Big Three was especially fun as we dedicated the newest hull in the fleet and captured the inaugural Cup for the M2V.  Pete and Mara Taft provided a new Pocock named Trigger to honor their longstanding canine companion, who attended and delighted the team for almost every Bowdoin race for the 4 years that Molly ’11 rowed in the Navy.  And Hunt Dowse ’69 was with us to present the Cup named in his honor for his tremendous support of rowing at Bowdoin.

With the New England Rowing Championships coming up on May 5, The Navy is excited about the prospects of fast racing in strong fields across the regatta.

We travel to Worcester 4/28 to test the waters with Amherst and Conn for one last shot at Quinsigamond before the NERC.