Bowdoin Rowing

Remigio Delectate et Remigate Velociter

Charles River

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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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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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Head of The Charles Medals!

At The 50th Head of the Charles, Bowdoin earned third place medals in the Men’s College Four and Women’s College Four, while the Men’s Second Boat zoomed to 13/44 in the same event as the first boat.

The fall rowing extravaganza capped a speedy season for the whole Navy. Opening at the Textile River Regatta, Bowdoin’s men took 2, 5, 6, and 11 in a field of 25. The Novice Men were 3/5 for the first medals of their Bowdoin careers. On the women’s side, we came 1st and 9th in a 24 boat event, while the Novice Women were 4,5, and 7. Nora Hefner ’16 won the Women’s Club 1x.

The next weekend at the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta, the varsity men were 2, 5, and 8th and the novice men were 3rd. The varsity women were 1st and 8th, and the novice women finished 3, 4, and 5! After a solid start to the racing season, the crews were excited to finally head to Boston.

The capstone of fall rowing, the Head of the Charles, attracts thousands of the best collegiate rowers in the country, as well as former and current National team members from over a dozen countries. The Collegiate Fours events included the usual powerhouse programs, but this year Bowdoin proved itself among them. In the men’s event, The Bears finished ahead of Michigan, UNC, Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas, and Georgia Tech to name a few.  Likewise, the women topped Brock, Clemson, FIT, Georgia Tech,  and Purdue among others.  Pretty good company for a small liberal arts college on the coast of Maine!

The men’s boat which won third was coxed by Claire Velez ’16, stroked by Cal Brooks ’15 and powered up by Mark Endrizzi ’15, Nathan Post ’15, and Joe Lake ’15.  In thirteenth place, Maddy Livingston ’16 coxed while Trevor McDonald ’15 stroked for Harris Fisher ’17, Phillip Maier ’18, and Arman Ashrafi ’17. In the women’s boat, Sophie Berube ’16 had the helm for stroke Mary Bryan Barksdale ’15, Emily Martin ’15, Courtney Payne ’15, and Liza Tarbell ’17.  Both men’s and women’s boats have finished in the top ten since 2011, and each side has earned two medals at HOCR in those years, including a gold by the women in 2012.

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Speedboats!

A beautiful fall season saw speed boats right through the Navy! In the three races of the head season the top women’s boat won both the Textile and the Snake and was 5th at the Charles. The Men’s First was second twice and 6th at the Charles. Lightweight Men won at Textile and took third in the Open Division at the Snake, and competed with gusto to beat a couple of crews in the elite lightweight event at the Charles. And we had speedy novice crews as well. The Women’s Novice Four sped its way to gold and silver at the Textile and Snake, and the Novice Men’s Fours came second and third in Lowell, and then third in Worcester. We also boated a Women’s Novice Eight which came fourth at the Textile and seventh out of twenty at the Snake!

Hard work and long hours translated to great speed this fall. For the third consecutive year we had both men and women in the top ten at the Charles, which is a great accomplishment. Coupled with the depth and speed of our novice pool, the Navy is looking very competitive for spring! So competitive, that while most of the Navy will be off the water after Dad Vail in May, we are pleased to be taking the women to England to compete in the prestigious Henley Women’s Regatta in June! More speed to come!

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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.