Charles Watt (left) and Kyle Hayes compete in the double scull and come up with a gold medal. (Photo by Stephen Into)
The Textile River Regatta in Lowell challenges even the best of rowers over its 5800-meter course. Adding rain, cooler temperatures, and a strong head wind increases the challenge. And for the Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough rowers who train on a small pond that is only five minutes long, racing at full speed for more than 25 minutes can be a rude awakening.
Shouldering that challenge, the Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough rowing team brought home two first-place and two second-place medals from the 34th annual Textile River Regatta on Sunday, competing in a regatta that featured 87 clubs and 700 entries.
Light girls 4+ reunited
The shining moment for the girls’ crew was the reuniting of the lightweight 4+ (four rowers plus coxswain) from last June’s Youth Nationals. Even though most of their fall training had been in larger boats and with other rowers, the team of coxswain Amanda Sundheimer and rowers Courtney Oka, Panna Rasania, Meghan Glade, and Ki Jung Lee dominated the event, winning the 5800-meter race by over 45 seconds against a field of seven other boats.
The girls novice 4+ also medaled, claiming silver in their race. Steered by coxswain Samantha Lee, rowers Anna Dawley, Maeve French, Grace Ott, and Rachel Foote powered their way to a second-place finish out of a field of eight other crews. This was the second race of the day for the rowers, all of them having just completed the same course racing in the novice 8+ before switching to their 4+ and returning upriver to the start.
Varsity boys: ‘All in all, a good day.’
The boys varsity team had success in the sculling events (two oars per rower). The double scull (2x) of Kyle Hayes and Charles Watt took gold, finishing 1:14 ahead of the next boat. The quadruple sculls (4x) of AJ Higgins, Liam Mackin, Ben Jackson, and Jake Turchetta took silver in their event against seven other crews.
The boys varsity crew also entered two 8+ and one 4+ sweep in the junior (high school age) races. Several rowers’ positions in the boats were new, based on recent days of intense inter-squad competition, known as seat-racing. While these boats did not medal, their performance was encouraging, as the crews developed their skills. Said Coach Pat Scott of his rowers, “They are very willing to work and just need more time on the water. They want to be fast right now, which I love, but they need a little more patience to focus on the process of rowing better to be faster.” He concluded, “All in all, a good day for the Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough varsity boys, but one that shows we still have some work to do.”
The novice boys team entered two 8+ boats in the competition, finishing 13th for the first boat and 31st for the second boat, out of a field of 39. For many of the rowers, including the coxswains steering the narrow 60-foot boat, this was their first race and most only had three weeks of rowing experience. Novice boys coach Pete Peterson complimented his crews, stating, “Watching from the shore, they had the best technique of all the boats, rowing more efficiently and competing effectively with crews who were clearly larger.” Looking forward, Coach Peterson intends to focus on improving his line-ups based on hard work in the training room and on Bare Hill Pond in Harvard.
Clean slates for many girls crews
The girls varsity scullers raced in the toughest conditions of the day in the early morning, with the stiff headwind and rougher water hampering their stroke rate and speed. The three single scullers placed fifth (Sylvia Sarnik), sixth (Molly Hart) and seventh (Ally Goldsher). The double scull placed sixth of 16 crews.
“Since we are starting with a clean slate for many of our crews, each regatta is a chance for me to see which lineups work well in a competitive situation,” said varsity girls coach Holly Hatton, “The longer distance was definitely beyond the fitness level of many of our athletes, but that’s not a worry. You can’t get there if you don’t over extend your limits.”
With two rowers competing for the second time, the girls varsity 4+ finished in seventh place in a field of 35 competitors. The second varsity 8+ finished in 21st place in a race of 44 first and second varsity eights. Compared with the other competitors, Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough finished a very respectable seventh.
In addition to their second-place finish in the novice 4+ event, the novice girls first and second eights had strong performances with fourth and 17th place finishes respectively. The girls first novice 8+ overcame last week’s navigation troubles, outpacing the Westford-Littleton crew by a 20-second margin, reversing the previous weekend’s loss. The second novice eight—in their first race—finished third among the 12 teams that fielded a second boat.
Coach and Bare Hill Rowing Association Director Holly Hatton summarized the event, “I thought all of our crews had solid performances this weekend, but it’s clear we have a lot of work to do on conditioning and strength,” indicating the longer fall racing provides a good training foundation for the sprint races in the spring.
Next up: New England championships
On Sunday, Oct. 13, the full Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough crew will continue their fall head racing season, competing against 36 other teams in sculling and sweep events at the fourth Annual New England Junior & High School Regional Championship Regatta on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester. Also on Oct. 13, several varsity girls scullers will compete in the inaugural Head of the Quinobequin, a 3000-meter head race for youth single scullers on the Charles River.
