There was a lot at stake for varsity rowers in the Northeast Junior District Regatta held on the Merrimack River in Lowell the weekend of May 21-22. Crews needed to place in the top three in their event to earn an automatic bid to the National Regatta scheduled for June 10-12 in Oakridge, Tenn. Last year Bromfield-AB qualified two boats, the Women’s Double and the Men’s Four, for the first time in the team’s history, in a region dominated by big rowing clubs from across the nation.
Yet again Mother Nature threw a wrench in the works. The race course, swollen with heavy rains over the previous week, became treacherous and unpredictable, with dangerously strong currents. Outer lanes five and six had a significant advantage from the fast moving water. Rowers and coaches alike hoped not to draw or be seeded in lane one, the current free “dead” lane.
Race directors made the difficult decision to run only the varsity prelim heats on Saturday. All novice and second varsity prelim heats were cancelled for the day. All of the remaining Bromfield boats were eligible for an automatic bid to Nationals in June and did compete. Clearly the team meant business, as each of these crews rowed well enough to advance in semifinal and then final heats on Sunday.
With sophomores Olivia Maclean and Caroline Hart competing in both the double and the Varsity Eight, Coach Holly Hatton explained, “It was a fine line to juggle in order to ensure they had enough recovery between events so they could give their best in both events.” The girls won the double event in style, open water ahead, earning themselves a berth at the U.S. Rowing Youth Nationals.
The Men’s Pair entry, Kendall Cotton and Sam Ginouves, echoed the Women’s Double success by capturing the silver medal and a bid of their own to Nationals. The boys joined teammates Pat Ware and Tucker Edwards and Cox Diana Fox in the Men’s Four finals later in the day, their third race of 2,000 meters after qualifying in the semifinals in the morning. The crew placed third overall, securing a spot for another Bromfield entry at Nationals.
The Women’s Varsity Eight competed in the deepest and most competitive field of any event. In spite of finding themselves in the dreaded lane one for the semifinal and the final, the girls attacked the course for all they were worth. The crew finished fifth overall behind four nationally ranked powerhouse crews that could well place 1-2-3 at Nationals. Although the girls were disappointed, one rower described the bittersweet race as “the best race of our lives, but we just weren’t strong enough today”.
Bromfield’s sub-varsity crews were thrilled to get the news that they would be allowed to race Sunday in a “Head-style” race as a time trial, instead of competing in heats. Both the Men’s and Women’s Novice Fours and the Women’s Second Varsity Eight garnered silver medals in their events, serving notice that Bromfield-AB will be a team to fear in the years to come, with the boys missing the gold medal by only tenths of a second.
