Bowdoin Rowing

New Englands

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Rowing Alchemey Turns Silver Into Gold!

At the close of its 25th Anniversary Season, The Bowdoin Navy found some racing alchemy that turned the silver commemoration into Gold! On May 5th at the New England Rowing Championships on historic Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA, Bowdoin advanced all 6 of its entries to the Grand Finals and once there, took 4 gold medals.

The Novice Men’s Four, with cox Bridgett McCoy ’15, stroke Jack Wostrel ’15, Chris Breen ’15, Nathan Post ’15 and Bryce Ervin ’15 rowed its fastest time of the season in finishing 6th in the Grand.  The Novice Women’s Four beat its 8th place seed by finishing 5th under the helm of Ashley Talbot ’15, and with stroke Julia O’Keefe ’15, Catherine Yochum ’15, Amanda Maisel ’15 and Helen Mohney ’15.

All four of the upper boats moved through the morning heats with confidence and poise, and in the afternoon finals showed determination and patience with big moves in the final stages of the 2000 meter course to claim the gold.

The medal run started with the W2V4 moving through the course ahead of the field in a three way race with Holy Cross and Trinity.  Over the last 300 meters coxswain Alex Lynds ’15 moved her crew of stroke Anna Westervelt ’14, Emily Weinberger ’15, Sam Burns ’13, and Mary Bryan Barksdale ’15 into position for a closing sprint which earned the win in the closest finish of the day, taking the gold with a 2.3 second gap over Holy Cross with Trinity back by 7 seconds in 3rd.

The M2V4 staged a similar finish with a decisive move over the last 200 meters to best rivals Vermont and Amherst by 3 and 4 seconds respectively. Stroke Elliott Munn ’12, Scott Mitchell ’15, Tom Marcello ’12, and Capt. Morgan Andersen ’12 took the calls from coxswain Jen Helble ’14. For the 3 seniors it was an especially satisfying finish to their season and collegiate careers.

The WV4 gave a characteristically dominant performance leading Connecticut College and Amherst over the course and pulling away in the last 500 meters to beat the Camels by 7.6 and the Jeffs by 8.8 seconds.  Bonnie Cao coxed for Capt. and stroke Caroline Ciocca ’12, Heather Kinnear ’12, Courtney Payne ’15, and Katie Ross ’14.  This win extended a 3 year streak of silver medals at NE’s with a 4th year in the Gold!

The last race of the sweep was the MV4.  At the starting line, the gold could have gone to any of the three top seeded crews.  Christine Buckland ’12 had the helm and the calls for stroke Dan Polasky ’12, Tucker Colvin ’13, Cal Brooks ’15, and Mark Endrizzi ’15.  Behind at the start, the crew moved patiently through the fleet to set up the finish.  At 1500 meters Bowdoin put on a perfectly executed drive to the line to beat Wentworth by 3.2 and Vermont by 8.9 seconds.

What better way to finish off the Celebration of The 25th Anniversary of the Restoration of Rowing at Bowdoin! From the modest beginnings of modern rowing in 1986, The Bowdoin Navy has become a dominant force in small boat rowing in New England. In 2012 the hard working athletes of the Bowdoin Crew found the secret of turning silver into gold!

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Mid Spring Catch Up

With its strongest spring start in years, the Bowdoin Navy is anticipating an equally strong finish as we head into the championship phase of the spring.

On Sunday 4/22 the Varsity Men and Women both won their events at the President’s Cup with Colby and Bates before racing was suspended due to high winds and waves on the Androscoggin.  The day before at the Riverhawk Racing Series at UMASS, these 2 crews finished within a second of their rivals  at UVM.  Both Men’s and Women’s Second Varsity crews won their events.

At The Big Three on 4/14 Amherst hosted Bowdoin and Middlebury and the Polar Bears came away with wins in the Men’s and Women’s Varsity Fours, and the Men’s 2V4. The W2V took 2nd, and the Novice Men and Women were 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The Big Three was especially fun as we dedicated the newest hull in the fleet and captured the inaugural Cup for the M2V.  Pete and Mara Taft provided a new Pocock named Trigger to honor their longstanding canine companion, who attended and delighted the team for almost every Bowdoin race for the 4 years that Molly ’11 rowed in the Navy.  And Hunt Dowse ’69 was with us to present the Cup named in his honor for his tremendous support of rowing at Bowdoin.

With the New England Rowing Championships coming up on May 5, The Navy is excited about the prospects of fast racing in strong fields across the regatta.

We travel to Worcester 4/28 to test the waters with Amherst and Conn for one last shot at Quinsigamond before the NERC.

 

 

 

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New Englands: Three Crews in Medals

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Thanks to all you who joined us at Lake Quinsigamond for the NERC. It was wonderful to have so many of you join the team, and the throng, at lakeside. Crews have been racing there since the 1870’s and it always amazes me that the lake has such a vibe and creates such drama, in these intense competitions.

We had our own share of drama this year! On the bright side, all our crews made the Grand Finals, and 3 of our 5 crews won medals. On the other side, our first men, seeded first, had a disappointing row to finish fifth. All part of the life of racing boats and we’re learning from our successes as well as our disappointments.

The Novice Women took the gold medal with an open water finish over the field. The drama in this one came from a season ending injury the crew’s stroke, Anna Westervelt, just after camp. Coach Pitney shuffled and reshuffled, and we finally brought in Taylor Cochran who had rowed last year but not at all this spring, and put her in the bow and she rose to the occasion. What a satisfying win for her and the mates, Katie Ross, Sam Burns, Melissa Arliss and coxie Ruiqi Tang in a really dominating row.

The Varsity Women had its share of drama as Captain Molly Taft faced injury as well; with subs and uncertainty they made their way though the last races of the season, and the week before New Englands Coach Pitney put Molly back in the boat and they finished second to Conn by open water at the Clark Invitational. Without much water time before the Championship, the outcome this week remained uncertain, but their race to the silver medal at NERC was inspirational as they closed the gap with Conn to a couple of seconds. Caroline Ciocca stroked and Bonnie Cao coxed with Heather Kinnear and Claire Ellwanger joining Molly to round out the boat.

The M2V was the most exciting and closest race of the day. Without the advantage of a morning heat, stroke Morgan Andersen and coxie Julia MacDonald had only the row to the start to get the crew of John Bruno, James Henry, and Elliott Munn in the groove. In winning the bronze medal they had to stage a dramatic finish to move through Amherst, and they did. At the line, only 2 seconds separated the first 4 crews, with Bowdoin just .6 seconds behind the VT crew that beat them by 5 seconds in Lowell, and only 1.2 behind winner UNH!. Amherst was .8 behind Bowdoin, who beat the Jeffs the week before by only .4! This one was a huge accomplishment.

The Novice Men had a flat heat in the morning, but after a good long break, coxswain Jen Helble took her men to the water and with stroke Dan Lesser’s leadership Graham Edwards, Steve Strout, and Soichi Hirokawa broke through to a higher level of competition to finish 5th in field loaded with speed. Winning is not always finishing first: these men won the race with themselves and finished the season with their best race of the spring.

Coxie Christine Buckland and the Varsity Men, stroke Michael Hannaman, Tucker Colvin, Dan Polasky, and Kenny McCroskery, went into the day seeded first based on beating Amherst by 8 seconds the week before. URI surprised them in the morning heat and beat them by a breath, but the men had the 3rd fastest qualifying time behind VT and URI so they were poised to be contenders in the afternoon. In a thrilling final VT had a couple of seats at the 1500 m. mark and 4 boats were bow to bow to challenge at the end. But by the line, VT and Amherst took gold and silver while UMASS Lowell bested UMASS Amherst by 1.2 seconds for 3rd and 4th with Bowdoin trailing for 5th by 1.1 seconds. It was a huge disappointment, but the men are determined to understand it and learn from it and get back in the speed for Dad Vail in 2 weeks.

So Quinsigamond offered up its historic drama once again, and the Bowdoin Navy had its share, all for the good as we celebrate the accomplishments and learn from the defeats.