Bowdoin Rowing

Remigio Delectate et Remigate Velociter

regatta

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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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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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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.

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Fall Opener

The Fall Racing Season opened with The Textile River Regatta on Sunday 9/30, during Bowdoin’s Family Weekend.

On Sat. we welcomed rowing families at the Boathouse where we dedicated the Tafts’ gift of our new Pocock K4, announced a major gift to the endowment, and gave folks a chance to try a hand at the oar in the eights. Then we loaded the trailer to head to Lowell for the annual opener on the Merrimack River.

Many families made their way to the river and the great spirit of Sat.’s fesitivites made its way with them. And the crews were fast!

The Varsity Women won the Open 4 by :29 with an agressive row over the top of the course and impressive finish below the bridge.

The Varsity Men in the Open 4 zoomed to silver with a similar race plan, only :11 behind home course powerhouse Merrimack and :12 ahead of Riverside. WPI was the closest collegiate crew over a minute behind the Bears.

The Novice Men opened the medal run in the morning in the 4 with a silver, and two Novice Women’s 4’s dashed to bronze and a 5th.

Scott Mitchell powered his way to a bronze in the Club 1x, just 2 seconds out of silver.

In the eights, the both WN8 and MN8 were 4th, and the VM8 came 11th while the WV8 was 12th.

And a four full of alumni men prepping for the Charles came 11th in the Open 4!

All around, it was a wonderful fall weekend, and thanks go out to rowing families and the rowers themselves for making it so fun to race boats!