by Jill Maxwell ·
Friday, April 24, 2026
The Bromfield Acton-Boxborough team races across the pond in the girls V8+ final to beat Brookline and Weston-Wayland. From left: BA-B coxswain Gwynnie Poutasse and rowers Alicia Tang, Autumn Desclos, Simone Taylor, Maroon Kendrick, Reval Argow-Sniderman, Gabby Kim, Caroline Yang, and Lily Lem Moustakas. (Photos by Hannah Taylor)
A festive if soggy atmosphere prevailed at the Town Beach on Sunday, April 19, for Bromfield Acton-Boxborough rowing’s only home regatta, the Harvard Henley. BA-B hosted Brookline, Shrewsbury, and Wayland-Weston. Brookline girls went home with the trophy for fastest girls varsity 8; Wayland-Weston was fastest among boys. W-W also laid down the most first-place finishes, earning the team-points trophy.
The BA-B girls second varsity 8 won their event, and the girls third varsity 4, which was the only 4 to race before officials canceled afternoon events, came in second. The boys and girls first varsity 8s each lost their first heats but won their petite finals–essentially finishing third place on the day.
Morning fog rendered zero visibility on the pond, so officials delayed the regatta’s start by 90 minutes. Rain poured down. Athletes and spectators huddled under their team’s food tent canopies while tunes rocked over the PA system. Once racing began, clusters of teens cheered for their teammates. Crews launched from docks at the beach, rowed to the far west side of the pond and then raced back toward the finish line near Rock Island.
Shortly before 2 p.m., race officials monitoring the weather spotted a lightning cell on the radar about 20 miles away. “Typically at 10 miles, it’s immediate evacuation,” said Holly Hatton, who coaches the varsity girls. “In five minutes, it changed from 20 to 13 miles away.” Knowing that it takes about 10 minutes to get boats off the water, race officials called everyone to shore. The Harvard Police cleared the beach. Visiting teams took shelter in their buses, and officials canceled the rest of the day’s races, which were the smaller boats. “It’s never an easy decision,” Hatton said. “But we had tents, we had boats in slings, and everything needs to be secured. Our safety procedures move farther out in time than most sports because we can’t just run into the gym.”
The Bromfield Acton-Boxborough team pulls ahead to beat Shrewsbury in the boys V8+ race.
Foreground boat, from left: BA-B coxswain Noah Kim and rowers Oscar Maxwell, Patrick Tucker, Eric Bian, Teddy Stoddard, Xander Swydan, Mihir Vidhate, Ben Rosenman, and Hanfang Dong.
Catherine Chappell, the program director and coach of the varsity boys, said the team made the best of a tough situation. “It was obviously disappointing to not race the fours, the double, and the pair because that’s all we have been practicing,” she said. “But I am really proud of these guys for hopping into an 8 for only the second time and racing so well.”
BA-B novice girls didn’t race, and the novice boys raced unopposed. Three BA-B middle school squads raced themselves; no other team fielded entries for eighth-graders. “It can be really easy to feel discouraged that you aren’t racing any other teams, but the eighth-grade team is incredible at motivating each other and taking up any challenge,” said their coach, Bromfield senior Will Stoddard. “Especially with the very limited time we’ve had on the water so far this season with the weather and water levels, I was so impressed at what they were able to do.”
Hatton said the team is grateful for the support of the Harvard EMTs who donated their time to the regatta as well as the local merchants who sponsored the event. “That support makes a difference in a really good event and a really safe event,” she said.
On April 25 and 26 varsity and novice crews will compete at the Saratoga Invitational Regatta in New York. “We’re looking forward to Saratoga to test out all the small boats,” Chappell said.
Varsity girls
- 1V8+: Ava Dawn, Beth Belanger, Piper Candon, Etta Maxwell, Amelia McCormick, Ellery Thomas, Braeden Hartley, Emily Yang, and coxswain Hanna Lem Moustakas; first in petite final; 3 minutes, 55.51 seconds
- 2V8+: Lily Lem Moustakas, Caroline Yang, Gabby Kim, Reval Argow-Sniderman, Maroon Kendrick, Simone Taylor, Autumn Desclos, Alica Tang, and coxswain Gwynnie Poutasse; first in grand final; 4:01.97
- 3V4+: Stasia Bolberova, Gabby Kim, Nix Klein, Ada Hubbell, and coxswain Yuvika Rao; second in grand final; 4:42.01
- Varsity boys
- 1V8+: Hangfang Dong, Ben Rosenman, Mihir Vidhate, Xander Swydan, Teddy Stoddard, Eric Bian, Patrick Tucker, Oscar Maxwell, and coxswain Noah Kim; first in petite final; 3:31.09