Bowdoin Rowing

Claire Velez '16

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The 51st Head of the Charles

Bowdoin Rowing is proud to boast five consecutive years of medals at the Head of the Charles!

This year, the first varsity women brought home a fourth place medal after crushing the course in 20:05. The second varsity women passed several other boats for a fifteenth place finish in 20:40.

The varsity men tackled a very competitive field, with the first boat clocking in at 17:54 for an eleventh place finish and the second boat at 18:53. The alumni four men finished twenty-first out of fifty-three entries in their event with a time of 18:18.

It was a spectacular weekend down in Boston. We had typical New England weather, with sun showers on Friday morning and some capricious winds and current on Saturday, but after the Textile, our rowers and coxswains were hardly fazed. We were also lucky enough to be able to use Northeastern University’s beautiful Henderson Boathouse – thanks, Huskies!

To all those who were able to join us at the race, at the reunion dinner, and especially to those who hosted polar bears this weekend, thank you! Your support means the world to us.

The season’s not over yet… next up, CBB’s!

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The Quinsigamond Snake Regatta 2015

Saturday was one of those race days when every crew steps off the water with a big smile on their face. We enjoyed the crisp fall air, plenty of warm sun, and a whole bunch of medals to take home with us!

The women’s side performed very well, with varsity boats coming in third and fifth in their event, and the novice boats coming in third and fourth in theirs!

The men’s side put on a pretty good show, too, with golds in the varsity, novice, and alumni fours events! The three varsity boats came in first, sixth, and eighth; the novice boats came in first and fifth; and our alumni men came in first. What a day!

The Head of the Charles is no longer on the distant horizon but next weekend, and we couldn’t be more excited. This season has gone by so fast – the whole kit and caboodle will be over before we know it! Until then, we’re crossing our fingers for just a couple more mornings of agreeable water.

A big thank you to all of the families and friends who have been supporting us. Your cheers (and homemade snacks) get us to the finish line that much faster. Looking forward to sharing some more victories together. See you in Boston!

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The Textile River Regatta 2015

The leaves have barely started turning and we’ve already got our first race under our belts… sort of. The Textile this year was one unlike any other in recent history.

For the Bowdoin Navy, it included just as many non-races as it did races. The gentle breeze that kicked us into gear early Sunday morning ended up kicking us off the water by early afternoon.

Our novices, scullers, and club fours returned from mighty voyages down the Merrimack River with stories of being “slaughtered” by the waves and trying to dodge buoys that had drifted all around the course, yet all crews pulled through with remarkable spirit.

Our first novice men’s boat came in fifth in their event with a time of 25:30, with the second novice men’s boat following closely behind with 28:36. The first novice women earned second place with an impressive 28:36!

Next up was the men’s recreational single sculling event, which was demolished by our very own Lucian Black with a time of 28:25.

In the men’s club fours event, our third varsity boat came in eighth with a time of 23:32 after a penalty. Several course marker buoys had moved around in the tumultuous waves, so many crews were getting penalized left and right for “skipping” them. A similar thing happened to our women’s third varsity boat. Despite the odds, they had a great race with an adjusted time of 28:44!

By the time 1 pm rolled around, three more men’s boats and two more women’s boats were sitting pretty at the start line, ready to take a stab at it. 

The Merrimack had other plans…

Several boats had already flipped downriver due to the nasty conditions, and race officials deemed the whole project unsafe for the rest of us. In an exciting and thoroughly unsystematic manner, about thirty boats of all different sizes made a beeline (“paddling”) back to the dock.

Thankfully, all our rowers, coxswains, and equipment made it back safe and sound, albeit damp. Land ho!

This weekend, we take on the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta and, after that, the Chahhhles River! Stay tuned with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@bowdoinrowing).

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Through The Snake; On To The Charles!

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!