The boys and girls varsity 4s both finished first in the Bromfield Acton-Boxborough (BA-B) rowing team’s season opener on Saturday, April 21, on Bare Hill Pond. Crowds and crews from four Massachusetts public high school teams enjoyed blue skies at the fourth annual Harvard Henley regatta, but strong crosswinds proved challenging, particularly at the start of the course; some of the smaller boats had to line up three or four times for their races. Said program director and head girls varsity Coach Holly Hatton, “Everyone rose to the occasion, and some extremely tight racing was on display.” Wayland-Weston took the team-points trophy for the second year in a row.
The race format differed from a typical regatta. Each 8 raced every other team round-robin style in 1,000-meter heats. Competitors included BA-B, Arlington-Belmont, Brookline, and Wayland-Weston.
Nationally known college and U.S. National Team Coach Linda Muri provided play-by-play commentary from the water; Muri relayed her call via cellphone to the beach, where it was broadcast to spectators. “Folks had a much better idea of what was going on, who was winning, what stroke rates crews were racing out, and what was the final outcome,” Hatton said. Real-time race results were provided live online by HereNow.com. Also new this year: trophies handcrafted by Hatton for the winning boys and girls first varsity 8s.
The 1V girls 8 pull hard toward the finish. From left: Summer Maxwell, Grace White, Kat Fay, Valentine Bulpin, and Anya Buchovecky. (Courtesy photo)
The Arlington-Belmont boys nabbed a trophy depicting Fruitlands Museum’s iconic Pumunangwet statue (used with permission). They squeaked by the BA-B boys 8 by just one-tenth of a second. “Our boys had an excellent opening to the season,” said BA-B head boys varsity Coach Brian DeDominici. “The team put in a lot of focus over vacation week and it paid off in their races. On top of the great results, I was very happy to see the boys apply many of the technical points we had been working on during training.”
In three rounds of racing, the Wayland-Weston girls bested BA-B by only two seconds. They won a trophy featuring Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt and protector of women, the land, and animals. Hatton said the regatta was a strong start to the BA-B girls’ season: “We had several girls who missed a lot of time during the winter due to illness and injury. So we are playing catch-up. This was a solid showing for the team and we can only get better from here.”
The Harvard Henley is based on England’s Royal Henley Regatta, which was founded in 1839 and is famous for both sporting and socializing; winning there is considered one of the greatest achievements in a rower’s career. Here in Harvard, the races were preceded by a Friday night reception at the Harvard Cultural Collaborative featuring an official lane draw, live jazz, and a creative hat contest.
On Saturday, team tents and spectators crowded the beach. Volunteer boaters ferried adventurous race fans to Spectacle Island, where strawberries and homemade whipped cream awaited them by a crackling fire pit.
“As hosts of the fourth annual Harvard Henley, we can declare it an outstanding success,” said Hatton. “We want to say thank you to the Harvard DPW and the town’s fire, police, and EMT services, who gave us great support. And an extra big thanks goes to the Parks and Recreation Commission and the harbormaster who make it all possible by allowing us to hold the Henley on the beautiful town beach.”
The BA-B rowing team planned to spend this week preparing for the two-day Saratoga Invitational in New York on April 28 and 29. That regatta is America’s largest rowing sprint, with 10 lanes of 1,500-meter racing.
Race Results – Varsity girls
1V8+: Erin Smith, Anna Shlimak, Summer Maxwell, Grace White, Kat Fay, Valentine Bulpin, Anya Buchovecky, Kaylee Liu, and coxswain Rachel Shrives: won vs. AB (3:43); lost vs. WW (3:46); won vs. BHS (3:25)
2V8+: Zoe Flanzer, Alissa Kong, Sophie Bodager, Molly O’Neill, Stephanie Gardner, Taylor Tracy, Katherine Worden, Sophia Defoe, and coxswain Sila Inanoglu, B Final, 2nd (3:52)
1V4+: Erin Smith, Anna Shlimak, Summer Maxwell, Kaylee Liu, 1st (4:18)
V2x: Kat Fay, Grace White, 3rd (4:37)
Lightweight 4+: Zoe Flanzer, Alissa Kong, Stephanie Gardner, Taylor Tracey, and coxswain Rachel Shrives, 2nd (4:34)
Race Results – Varsity boys
1V8+: Kevin Yu, Dwight Fairchild, Spencer Tingle, Alexander Ewing, Connor O’Shea, William Thompson, Jack Walsh, Kyle Veo, and coxswain Nilay Maity: won vs. BHS (3:21); won vs. WW (3:22); lost vs. AB (3:25)
2V8+: Maxfield Mascarin, Charlie Carbonell, Ryan Camposano, Will Bardenheuer, Christopher Clark, Sam Jackson, Nikhil Kommineni, Patrick Stoffel, and coxswain Sarah Burke, A Final, 2nd (3:30)
3V8+: Maxfield Mascarin, Isaiah Osborn, John Hart, Will Bardenheuer, Jonathan McWhite, Max Ewing, Ryan Camposano, Charlie Carbonell, and coxswain Sarah Burke, 3rd (3:52)
1V4+: Dwight Fairchild, Stefan Scornavacca, William Thompson, Jack Walsh, and coxswain Nilay Maity, 1st (3:39)
Lightweight 4: Christopher Clark, Patrick Stoffel, Kevin Yu, Kyle Veo, and coxswain Rachel Shrives; 3rd (3:49)
1V2-: William Thompson, Jack Walsh, 2nd (4:02)
V2-: Alexander Ewing, Spencer Tingle, 3rd (4:15)
Lightweight 2x: Christopher Clark, Kevin Yu, 1st (4:00)
