Bowdoin Rowing

Remigio Delectate et Remigate Velociter

regatta

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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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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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The Quinsigamond Snake Regatta 2015

Saturday was one of those race days when every crew steps off the water with a big smile on their face. We enjoyed the crisp fall air, plenty of warm sun, and a whole bunch of medals to take home with us!

The women’s side performed very well, with varsity boats coming in third and fifth in their event, and the novice boats coming in third and fourth in theirs!

The men’s side put on a pretty good show, too, with golds in the varsity, novice, and alumni fours events! The three varsity boats came in first, sixth, and eighth; the novice boats came in first and fifth; and our alumni men came in first. What a day!

The Head of the Charles is no longer on the distant horizon but next weekend, and we couldn’t be more excited. This season has gone by so fast – the whole kit and caboodle will be over before we know it! Until then, we’re crossing our fingers for just a couple more mornings of agreeable water.

A big thank you to all of the families and friends who have been supporting us. Your cheers (and homemade snacks) get us to the finish line that much faster. Looking forward to sharing some more victories together. See you in Boston!

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The Textile River Regatta 2015

The leaves have barely started turning and we’ve already got our first race under our belts… sort of. The Textile this year was one unlike any other in recent history.

For the Bowdoin Navy, it included just as many non-races as it did races. The gentle breeze that kicked us into gear early Sunday morning ended up kicking us off the water by early afternoon.

Our novices, scullers, and club fours returned from mighty voyages down the Merrimack River with stories of being “slaughtered” by the waves and trying to dodge buoys that had drifted all around the course, yet all crews pulled through with remarkable spirit.

Our first novice men’s boat came in fifth in their event with a time of 25:30, with the second novice men’s boat following closely behind with 28:36. The first novice women earned second place with an impressive 28:36!

Next up was the men’s recreational single sculling event, which was demolished by our very own Lucian Black with a time of 28:25.

In the men’s club fours event, our third varsity boat came in eighth with a time of 23:32 after a penalty. Several course marker buoys had moved around in the tumultuous waves, so many crews were getting penalized left and right for “skipping” them. A similar thing happened to our women’s third varsity boat. Despite the odds, they had a great race with an adjusted time of 28:44!

By the time 1 pm rolled around, three more men’s boats and two more women’s boats were sitting pretty at the start line, ready to take a stab at it. 

The Merrimack had other plans…

Several boats had already flipped downriver due to the nasty conditions, and race officials deemed the whole project unsafe for the rest of us. In an exciting and thoroughly unsystematic manner, about thirty boats of all different sizes made a beeline (“paddling”) back to the dock.

Thankfully, all our rowers, coxswains, and equipment made it back safe and sound, albeit damp. Land ho!

This weekend, we take on the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta and, after that, the Chahhhles River! Stay tuned with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@bowdoinrowing).