Bowdoin Rowing

Remigio Delectate et Remigate Velociter

New Englands

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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 2016, round two

The second round of the Clark Invitational was last weekend, and here’s what happened!

On the men’s side, the first and second varsity fours came in first their events, and the first and second novice fours came in second and fourth, respectively, in their event.

On the women’s side, we placed fifth in the varsity eights event, third in the novice eights event, second in the varsity fours event, first in the second varsity fours event, and first in the novice fours event.

This upcoming weekend is one of the biggest of the year – the New England Championships! Tomorrow will be a long and race-filled day. It’s what we’ve been training for all season and we’re pretty excited. To those of you coming out, see you there! 

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Really Grand Finals at NE’s!

Bowdoin placed all six of its entries into the Grand Finals at the New England Rowing Championships on May 3, and came away with a gold, two silvers, a bronze, and two 4th place finishes!

The Varsity Women’s Four took the gold with an open water thirteen second win over Amherst and Conn in third. The win capped an undefeated regular season and inspired the crew to enter the Open Heavyweight Four at the upcoming Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia May 9-10. After five consecutive years of medals, 2 of them gold, in the D2-3 event, entering the Open signals the ambition and determination of these women to compete with the best in the country.

The Varsity Men’s Four won a hard fought silver against rival Wentworth Institute of Technology. With a stunning closing move, the Bears gained a boat length of water but came just short of WIT by a second. It was another in a long series of close races with the Wentworth crew and fans the rivalry for the upcoming Dad Vail.

The Novice Women took a silver behind Bates in very tight finish
and the M2V dashed to the bronze in another close race.

The Novice Men and W2V were both 4th by seconds in races that came down to the wire as well.

The Bowdoin Navy came away from NE’s with four medals in six events, and showed once again it is a powerhouse in regional fours competition. Next weekend the team travels to Philadelphia for the storied Dad Vail Regatta, the largest intercollgiate regatta in the country, with entries in six events.

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Great Rowing at Greater Boston

After a terrific regatta at Knecht Cup, we returned to the New Meadows ready to take on New England. At the Greater Boston Invitational on the Merrimack at Lowell, the Bowdoin Navy again showed speed and determination. We earned top three finishes in all eight events we entered, with 3 firsts, 4 seconds and a third.

The First Men showed composure and power as they rowed through host WIT in the last 500 meters. The First Women remain at the top of the field with a :14 win over Bryant with Amherst in third. The Jeffs had some difficulty at the start but rowed through the fleet and will be tough at New Englands. The Novice Women finished 1st and 3rd sandwiching the Amherst women. The Second Men and Second Women took second, as did the Lightweight Men and Men’s Pair. The Novice Men were third.

Next weekend we stay in Maine for the President’s Cup with Bates and Colby in Greene, ME on the mighty Androsscoggin.

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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