On The Water: Rowing on the St. Charles

Long Beach

Since its inception successful 1965, The Head Of The Charles Regatta (HOCR) has been connected the “bucket list” for galore rowers. It races on the banks of the St. Charles River, which separates Boston and Cambridge, Mass. The regatta is promoted by officials arsenic “the largest 2-day regatta successful the world, with 11,000 athletes rowing successful implicit 1,900 boats successful 61 events.”

From teenagers to seniors, Long Beach was good represented astatine the HOCR 2021 with our Long Beach Rowing Association (LBRA) and Long Beach Junior Crew (LBJC) bringing location medals.

“It is an breathtaking and unthinkable feeling to contention astatine Head of the Charles and beryllium portion of the LBJC team. It took a batch of hard enactment and grooming to get here, but it was each worthy it,” 16-year-old Tessa Griffin, a inferior astatine Los Alamitos High School, said.

Youth winners included:

Youth Men’s Coxed Quad 5th spot — Coached by Tom Graves, Charlie Josephbek, Nick Gonzalez, Jacob Bazulto (coxswain), Zachary Hutchings, and Tate Griffin (stroke seat).

Youth Women’s 8th spot Gold #1 spot victor for nether 17 athletes successful vessel included: Olivia Aceves, Hayley Bergstrom, Sydney Chait-Walter, Izabella Gwizdak, Annika Morallos, Lynna Ov, Leah Short, Allegra Steege and Tessa Griffin.

“Just to suffice to vie astatine the Charles is simply a immense accomplishment,” unit ma Sheila Griffin said. Her son, Tate Griffin, 16-year-old Los Alamitos HS junior, added, “I americium precise arrogant of my team. Competing astatine HOCR is an acquisition I volition retrieve for the remainder of my life.”

Memories, seeing friends and conscionable being determination are the take-aways for LBJC members arsenic good arsenic adults LBRA members.

“I started adjacent the backmost of the pack, but knew I had the velocity to decorativeness overmuch further up, truthful I focused connected putting unneurotic the champion contention that I could “said Maggie Fellows, who trained successful Long Beach but raced unaffiliated and took archetypal successful the women’s title singles.

“LBRA’s introduction came successful 2nd successful the Women’s Grand Master Eights. This is the vessel that was historically stroked by Joan Lind Van Blom,” LBRA’s Robert Cringely said. He added the 2021 changeable was Grace Malacrida.

“Our contention was the Grand Master Women’s 8, aka known arsenic the 60 and implicit race,” Malacrida said. “And it deed maine that Mary Perrot, Helen Frykman, Wendy O’Brien and I raced successful the LBRA HOCR 40+ 8 contention successful 2004! Where does the clip go?

“My grooming progressive a batch of clip spent unsocial astatine location connected my ergometer,” she added. “It was truly adjuvant to person the play Zoom erg workouts provided by Sherri Kline. When I could not Zoom with others, I spent that clip watching aged videos of erstwhile HOCR to support maine motivated portion ergging.

“Happily, the aged feelings of however to enactment came back. I conjecture rowing is similar riding a bicycle. I volition apt beryllium grooming successful Long Beach again this winter.”

Others echoed Malacrida’s feelings.

“The Head of the Charles has ever been 1 of my favourite races,” said LBRA’s Sherri Kline, who rowed bow spot of an unaffiliated introduction that came successful #2 successful the Director’s Challenge Women’s Quad. “There is tons of vigor and enthusiasm on the river, and it makes it truly amusive to perform. The people is challenging, arsenic it has tons of turns and 7 bridges, truthful it takes accomplishment and section cognition to navigate it well.

“The HOC is the contention I bid for each year. You’ve got to chopped those corners tight, and I emotion doing that. This regatta is magical and aft we load our boats backmost successful the trailer, I already person goals for this contention adjacent year.”