Nearly 2,000 athletes from more than 40 Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont private school, public school, and club teams competed in the USRowing Northeast Youth Championships at Lake Quinsigamond this past weekend, including twenty-three from Bromfield Acton-Boxborough crews. The Worcester venue, commonly referred to as “Lake Quinsig,” has been host to multiple championship regattas each year, including New England collegiate rowing championships, and in past decades, the national Olympic rowing trials, US nationals, and US masters nationals.
The level of competition at the regional championship regatta was at an all-time high, as crews set out to qualify on the local 2-kilometer course for the USRowing Youth National Championships, June 8 to 10 in Gold River, California. “Many of the winners at Worcester will go on to win at Youth Nationals,” program director and head varsity girls Coach Holly Hatton said. “We are competing against clubs who have erg score standards [required levels of rowing fitness] just to join and have substantial financial support. The number of strong clubs in the New England region continues to increase each year. So any time we can hold our own against these opponents, we are successful. Taking the leap to earning a bid to nationals is a much bigger step. For our public high school program, all the stars have to be aligned to make that leap. “
Showing great versatility, Rachel Shrives competes as a rower (in addition to being a coxswain in other races), in the girls lightweight four+. From left: Zoe Flanzer, Kaylee Liu, Shrives, Alissa Kong, and coxswain Erin Smith. (Courtesy photos)
Crews representing Bromfield Acton-Boxborough included selected varsity members from the boys and girls teams, with seven boats entered in six events, each pulling for a ticket to nationals. Saturday’s time trial events with BA-B entries included the boys 4s with coxswain, girls 4 with coxswain, girls lightweight (ltwt) 4 with coxswain, boys lightweight double, and girls and boys pairs without coxswain. Five BA-B boats with top three to seven places in their heats earned spots to Sunday’s finals. Hatton considered all three girls crews making it to the finals as a “significant accomplishment,” especially after one of the lightweight girls had just missed the weight cutoff by 1 ounce, requiring a switch between coxswain Rachel Shrives and the rower to compete in their event. “I believe they would have been a qualifying crew,” Hatton said. She was nonetheless “most proud of the girls and how they rallied and stuck together.” The boys varsity coach, Brian DeDominici, was also pleased with the boys’ results against some of the fastest teams in the region. “Making the grand final in two events with so many large clubs at the competition is a great achievement, and all the crews had their fastest races of the season,” he said.
An opportunity for lightweights
What is a “lightweight” rower, you might be wondering? BA-B entered two lightweight boats, one from each of the boys and girls teams, an opportunity for its “smaller” rowers to compete in nationals, as in previous years. These rowers are restricted to body weight limits of 150 pounds for youth boys and 130 pounds for youth girls, to level the playing field, so to speak, and race against rowers similar in stature. Toward the end of their high school rowing careers, rowers see occasional oscillations around those limits. In fact, the weight limit increases to 160 pounds once the boys graduate and start to compete in men’s events, but not so for women, who have presumably reached their peak growth in high school. Some colleges offer strong, competitive lightweight rowing programs, but the International Rowing Federation recently voted to reduce the number of Olympic lightweight men’s events, instead adding a women’s 4 event and promoting gender equality. The Head of the Charles Regatta offers lightweight singles, doubles, 4s, and 8s events in addition to its extensive list of open weight events, providing world class competition for rowers of any size or gender.
Kevin Yu (left) and Christopher Clark compete in the boys lightweight double.
The team will compete in its final regatta Sunday, May 27, at the Massachusetts Public School Rowing Spring Championships on the Merrimack River in Lowell.
Varsity boys results
Boys 4+: Dwight Fairchild, Stefan Scornavacca, William Thompson, Jack Walsh, and coxswain Nilay Maity, 6th (7:33.5)
Boys Ltwt 2x: Christopher Clark, Kevin Yu, 5th (8:00.8)
Boys 2–: Connor O’Shea, Kyle Veo, 9th in heat (7:36.6)
Boys 2–: Spencer Tingle, Alexander Ewing, 10th in heat (7:51.7)
Varsity girls results
Girls 4+: Anya Buchovecky, Grace White, Kat Fay, Anna Shlimak, and coxswain Sila Inanoglu, 6th (8:25.1)
Girls Ltwt 4+: Alissa Kong, Rachel Shrives, Kaylee Liu, Zoe Flanzer, and coxswain Erin Smith, 7th (9:23.3)
Girls 2–: Summer Maxwell, Molly O’Neill, 7th (10:07.9)
