by Jill Maxwell ·
Friday, October 11, 2024
For hundreds of years, textile factories dumped dyes into the Merrimack River, turning the water a multitude of shades. On Sunday, Oct. 6, the colors on display at the Textile River Regatta were gold, silver, and bronze for Bromfield Acton-Boxborough Rowing.
Perfect conditions prevailed in Lowell, with clear, sunny skies and little wind. The annual contest saw 485 entries from 65 clubs, high schools, and colleges run the three-mile course.
Adhiti Venkatesh coxed three girls crews to three podium spots: silver for the quad and the 4 and bronze in the 8. “It was the rowers that made it possible,” Venkatesh said, noting that the quad and the 4 used the same boat so they had to re-rig in between races. Both of those crews passed four boats that had launched ahead of them.
Reval Argow-Sniderman (left) and Abigail Hirschberg get into position at the starting line. They competed in the double and finished sixth. (Courtesy photo)
In speaking about the 8, the last race of the day, Venkatesh said, “They were really feeling good because it had felt really good in practice. So they were excited even though they were tired from their other races.” Rowers wear socks and strap their feet into shoes that are attached to the boat by a device called a foot stretcher. Stroke seat Braeden Hartley’s foot stretcher malfunctioned and was dangling by a screw. For a little while, Venkatesh held onto it; Hartley eventually took her foot out and rowed with only one foot in the stretcher. “It didn’t faze us,” Venkatesh said. “They all kept their cool and pushed through the race.”
For the varsity girls, each athlete rowed the course twice. Their head coach, Holly Hatton, said the regatta was a critical part of the season. “With Head of the Charles entries for the 4 and the quad this year, every race is a stepping stone towards that regatta and our goal of securing guaranteed entries for the 2025 team based on this year’s success,” she said.
The boys U17 4, which had placed 19th in the country at USRowing’s Youth National Championship Regatta in June, won gold at Textile. “They are like the five musketeers—the ‘All for one and one for all’ sentiment,” said Gary Piantedosi, the head coach of the varsity boys. “They do not get to race together that often, but when they do, they certainly bring it.”
Xander Swydan and Ben Rosenman took silver in the novice boys double, and Nooriya Taherbhoy ran the course in a single and brought home a bronze.
Up next for BA-B: the New England Championship Regatta on Worcester’s Lake Quinsigamond, and the singles sculling race Head of the Quinobequin on the Charles River in Boston, both taking place Sunday, Oct. 13.
Jill Maxwell is a BA-B parent and regular contributor.
Textile River Regatta results
Varsity girls
- U17 1x: Ainsley Charland, fourth place, 25 minutes, 6.680 seconds
- 1x: Nooriya Taherbhoy, third, 24:29.060
- U17 2x: Ellie Pulido and Gabby Shee, fourth, 21:13.574; Reval Argow-Sniderman and Abby Hirschberg, sixth, 21:44.241
- 2x: Margaux Lehouck and Nix Klein, seventh, 22:47.837
- 1V4x+: Will Stoddard, Ellie Daly, Emma Gregg, Johnny Greenberg, and coxswain Adhiti Venkatesh, second, 18:13.996
- U17 4+: Megha Nookala, Izzi Walker, Caroline Yang, Ava Dawn, and coxswain Abby Depew, fifth, 20:21.349; Gabby Shee, Sravya Hamsala, Ainsley Charland, Ellie Pulido, and coxswain Sofi Marder, 6th, 21:43.942
- 1V4+: Beatrice Maxwell, Emma Lawson, Emily Yang, Braeden Hartley, and coxswain Adhiti Venkatesh, second, 17:50.787
- 2V4+: Megha Nookala, Izzi Walker, Alexis Nichols, Ava Dawn, and coxswain Gwyneth Poutasse, ninth, 20:06.909; Sophia Pierce, Sravya Hamsala, Annabelle Purcell, Caroline Yang, and coxswain Sofi Marder, 10th, 20:09.943
- 1V8: Johnny Greenberg, Ellie Daly, Will Stoddard, Emily Yang, Emma Lawson, Emma Gregg, Beatrice Maxwell, Braeden Hartley, and coxswain Adhiti Venkatesh, third, 16:40.902
- 2V8: Sophia Pierce, Margaux Lehouck, Nix Klein, Nooriya Taherbhoy, Annabelle Purcell, Reval Argow-Sniderman, Abby Hirschberg, Alexis Nichols, and coxswain Gwyneth Poutasse, sixth, 18:28.449
Varsity boys
- U17 4+: Julian Fariello, Oscar Maxwell, Reid Nelson, Patrick Tucker, and coxswain Austin Lai, first, 17:01.553
- 1V4+: Ulad Danilovich, Shankara Rao, Henry Belanger, Atticus Keep, and coxswain Noah Kim, seventh, 16:54.773
- 2V4+: Alex Han, Liam Abayasinghe, Miles Dusset, Felipe Ferraz da Rocha Paes, and coxswain Hasnain Ahsan, 18th, 21:57.969
- 1V8: Reid Nelson, Shankara Rao, Parker Cole, Oscar Maxwell, Henry Belanger, Patrick Tucker, Ulad Danilovich, Atticus Keep, and coxswain Austin Lai, 9th, 15:55.500
- 2V8: Russell Poutasse, Liam Abayasinghe, Noah Friedman, Maxton Zilinek, Charlie Leuci, William O’Donnell, Gavin Datta, Alex Horton, and coxswain Noah Kim, 12th, 18:14.600