Bowdoin Rowing

Remigio Delectate et Remigate Velociter

alumni

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Head of the Charles 2016

The 52nd Head of the Charles brought drenching rains on Saturday and howling head winds on Sunday and three crews each day from the Bowdoin Navy. Over 10,000 athletes from around the world gathered in Boston for the annual fall celebration of rowing.

On Saturday, Bowdoin raced in the Men’s Club Fours where our B boat finished 25th, and our alumni took 34th out of 48 entries.  Dartmouth, Harvard, and Boston University took the top three finishes.  Our alumni women raced in the Women’s Club Fours and finished 30th out of 59; Penn, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame took the top three in that event. Both the B boat and the women just missed getting the guarantee for next year by 1 spot!

In Sunday’s headwind, Bowdoin raced in the Collegiate Fours with our Women’s A and B boats and the Men’s A boat. In spite of three significant boat stopping incidents, the men took 14th in the 43 boat field, and earned a guaranteed entry in next year’s regatta.  FIT, Middlebury, and San Diego took top honors. The women finished 14th and 21st in a 35 boat race, and the A boat guaranteed a spot for next year. Barry University won it, with Carleton and UNH in second and third.

The gathering at the Asgard on Saturday evening was just a joy.  It was wonderful for our current team and families to connect with such a great crowd of alums.  What a bunch of characters! Thanks to Maddy Livingston ‘16 for pulling it together, and to all of you who joined us there and at the river.

Complete results, photos, and articles may be found at row2k.com and hocr.org.

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Textile River Regatta 2016

As fall begins to set in up here in Maine, the Bowdoin Navy completed its first race of the year! The team traveled down to Lowell, MA to race with over 70 other colleges, high schools and clubs at the Textile Rive Regatta. Even through cloudy and overcast skies, the team shone and brought back plenty of hardware. Safe to say it was a promising start to the season!

The Navy entered 13 boats in 8 entries, earning 9 medals: 2 gold, 2 silver, and 5 bronze. Our team showed terrific depth as the Novice Women’s four took first and third, the Novice Men’s Eight took third, and the Lightweight Men’s Four took the gold. The team continued their success streaks into the afternoon with the Varsity Men’s Four taking second and fourth, and the Varsity Women’s Fours taking third, fourth and fifth. In the small boats, our singles took third and sixth, and the pair got third.

As always, we loved seeing our parents and alumni! Thank you to all who brought food and cheered from the sidelines. Thank you also to our wonderful alumni who came to support and race as well. We had alumni racing in the Club Singles and for Riverside Boat Club, as well as refereeing for US Rowing

Here’s to a fast season ahead! Look for us next in Worcester, MA racing at the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta on October 15.

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New England Championships 2016

Two spectacular weekends in a row!

Six Bowdoin crews traveled down to Massachusetts for the New England Championships, six Bowdoin crews advanced from their heats to the Grand Finals, and six Bowdoin crews came home with medals! It was a day of racing we will all remember for a long time to come.

Three golds: Men’s First Novice Four, Women’s First Novice Four, and Women’s Second Varsity Four

Two silvers: Men’s First Varsity Four and Women’s First Varsity Four

One bronze: Men’s Second Varsity Four

We were also able to honor our coach Gil Birney’s 20th year of coaching. The captains presented Coachie with a book of memories and shared stories with all the current Bowdoin rowers and coxswains, alumni, friends, and families of the team. Once more, Coachie, thanks for everything you do. You can’t imagine how much you and this team mean to all of us.
NERC 2016

And, of course, a big thanks to everyone else we saw at the race course! Your continuous and unconditional support inspire us at every race. We were pulling for you.

For some boats, this weekend marked the end of the spring season. Others have their toughest races ahead of them. In less than two weeks, the men’s and women’s first varsity fours and first novice fours will compete at Dad Vail in Philadelphia, PA. Should be fun.

Until then, please enjoy this compilation of our fearless coxswains.

NERC coxswains 2016

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Clark Invitational and Knecht Cup 2016

On April 2nd, Bowdoin boats swept the Clark Invitational Regatta! Then we had a pretty cold week up here in Maine. This was for the best, though, considering the conditions we were about to face in New Jersey. The Bowdoin Navy withstood some crazy weather this past Saturday at the Knecht Cup, but, as one of our alumni said, the wind and sleet were merely a “calm day on the New Meadows”. Still, every boat managed to advance to either the Grand or Petite Finals!

Sunday’s races allowed Bowdoin to rake in five medals, and our other two boats finished top-three in their events.

In the Grand Final events, the women’s varsity A and B won gold and silver medals, respectively; the men’s varsity A and B won gold and bronze medals, respectively; and the men’s novice A won bronze. In the Petite Finals events, the women’s novice A came in second and the men’s novice B came in third. It was a nice feeling to come away from a day of racing where every single Bowdoin boat finished top three! Great job, Bears.

Thanks to all the families and alums who brought food and dogs and companionship to our trailer! And also a big thank you to the families who provided a much-needed rest stop on the way back up to Bowdoin. Everyone is safe and sound, ready to rig and get back to work this week.

Next up, the UMass Lowell Invitational on Saturday and the President’s Cup on Sunday.

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Guts, Glory, and Gold!

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.