Bowdoin Rowing

Remigio Delectate et Remigate Velociter

Medals

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Strong Showing at The Snake

At the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta in Worcester on 10/12, the Women’s Four posted a decisive win in 18:02 for the 2.5 mile course, a :40 victory over Connecticut College in second and third place University of Vermont!

The Men’s Four won second :12 behind University of Rhode Island, and the Bowdoin B boat, our lightweight crew, took third. Our C boat took 9th in the 14 boat field, but ahead of A boats from Amherst, Colby, and Tufts.

In the Novice events, our Women’s Four was second behind a very fast Connecticut College crew, and the our Novice Men’s four was third behind 2 boats from Conn. The Novice Women’s Eight was 7th in a very competitive 20 boat race, and finished ahead of top boats from Clark, Simmons, Smith, Amherst, and Tufts.

Complete results at snake.qra.org.

Next Saturday, our Women’s Four defends last year’s gold medal win at the Head of the Charles, and the Men’s Four seeks to extend its medal winning row in Boston to 3 consecutive years; and 2 alumni crews compete in the Men’s and Womens’ Club Fours. Our Lightweight Men’s Four will compete in the international event on Sunday afternoon.

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Textile Medal Haul

Steady rain throughout the day could not dampen the spirits or speed of the Bowdoin Navy at the 34th Textile River Regatta in Lowell, MA on Sunday. With 10 boats in 6 events, we pulled in 3 gold, 2 silver, and a bronze for a great day of time trial racing.

In the Novice Men’s Four Bowdoin opened the haul with 2nd and 3rd behind UMASS Lowell. The Novice Women’s Four followed with a gold in spite of a jumped slide in the last 1000 meters. The Men’s Lightweight Four rushed to a :44 margin over rival Wentworth to claim another gold. In a very competitive field the Novice Women’s Eight took 4th.

We had three entries in the Men’s Open Four. A strong Riverside Boat Club from Boston won the event, but our First Boat was close behind in second, ahead of WIT, Tufts, and Wesleyan among the field. Our Second Boat dueled the last 1500 meters with our Third Boat, a group of Bowdoin alums; the alums took 6th and the Second Boat 10th in the most entertaining finish of the day.

The Women’s Open Four is always a loaded event at this regatta but our first boat met the challenge and won the event to repeat last year’s victory. Radcliffe was second and WPI took the bronze. Our Second boat came 15th.

Next Sat. the Navy travels to Worcester for the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta, the last tune up for the Head of The Charles on Oct. 19-20.

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Women Win Dad Vail!

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 Saturday morning to place them in the top third of all competitors at the regatta.

Complete results at dadvail.org or row2k.com

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New England Championships

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.

novice women gold varsity men gold varsity women gold

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Dominate Racing

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.