The 35th annual Textile River Regatta was held on the Merrimac River in Lowell this past Sunday, with more than 700 boats entered in the competition, from high school through college and adult rowers. Three thousand competitors and thousands more friends and family converged on the riverbank to compete, with high school crews from New York and all of New England participating. This event is a prelude to the larger Head of the Charles regatta in two weeks.
As a small club, Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough (BAB) rowers performed well, with several entries placing in the top quarter of several large fields of more than 40 racing crews. The conditions were harsher than last weekend, with more wind and tides in the Merrimac in Lowell before it flows down to Lawrence. The day was still mostly sunny and warmed up into the 60s by midday. All rowers started 3 miles upstream in this 6,000-meter race, with many participants rowing in two events during the competition.
Scullers take gold, silver, and bronze
The varsity girls scullers (each rower pulling two oars) were the first to race for the team. One BAB scull won gold in its event, another won silver, and another finished third. Winning a gold medal was the girls’ varsity 4x, with a time of 24 minutes 52 seconds. Rowers were Courtney Oka, Panna Rasania, Kamryn Stecyk, and Grace Ott.
Molly Hart won a silver in the individual sculling event, with a 6,000-meter row in a time of 28:11. In the girls’ 2x race, scullers Kirsten Thiim and Allison Goldsher placed third out of seven boats with a time of 26:15.
“It was a strong start to the regatta,” said girls’ varsity Coach Holly Hatton. “The conditions were challenging for the last 2,000 meters of the race—strong tail wind and current and lots of chop. Each crew had their own story of missed strokes and crabs caught, but they all managed to keep their cool and race the 6,000-meter course to out-distance many of the competition.”
Next up were the “sweep” races, with larger crews and one rower on each oar. Three BAB boats rowed to fourth place finishes in their events. The boys’ novice 8+ A boat placed fourth out of 39 entries with a time of 22:17, less than a minute off the fastest pace. Rowers were William Thompson, Joshua Hollenberg, Zac Shamah, Christopher Arsenault, Andrew Huang, Jack Klem, David Shlimak, and Mitchell Densen, with Joshua Canning (coxswain).
Praise for novice boys
“We managed to gain some great speed this past week,” said boys’ novice Coach Conor Finnegan. “One of our focuses was on practicing good technique when fatigued. I think that really paid off for us on the race course. Both of the novice boats placed better than the previous year, which was very pleasing to the guys. Our 1N8 (A) went from a 13th-place finish last year to a fourth-place finish on Sunday.”
The boys’ 4+ varsity A team placed fourth in a time of 21:56, just 18 seconds out of first place. Rowers were Luca Basile, Charles Watt, Justin Hayes, and Liam Mackin, with Kyle Veo (cox).
Varsity boys’ Coach Brian DeDominici said, “The varsity boys all put in great races against some of the strongest fall competition in the northeast. It was a great test to see where we need to focus for the coming weeks.”
The girls’ 4+ novice was fourth out of 15 boats with a time of 27:37. Rowers were Becky Nitschelm, Lindsey Hayes, Alyson Veo, and Courtney Robb, with Sarah Bradley (cox).
“These early races are all about testing lineups, racing the long distances to increase conditioning, and giving the team a chance to mix it up and race multiple events at a regatta,” said Hatton. “The overall results continue to show our strength as a team.”
Edited by John Osborn from a Press release provided to local papers by the Bare Hill Rowing Association.
