PEA Athletes Compete at Head of the Charles Regatta

CAMBRIDGE, MA - This past weekend Exeter Crew took over the Head of the Charles Regatta, one of the most prestigious regattas in the nation, racing and placing in four different events. Seniors JB Baker, Sam Helms, Julian Drury, Nikhil Chuchra and upper Benj Cohen placed 13th out of 84 teams in the Youth Men Fours under the team name Benco Dental Rowing Club.Seniors Jessica Michaels, Kerrick Edwards, Jelena Pesa, Jenny DiPietro, and upper Zoe Sudduth in the Youth Women Fours under the name Squamscott River Club. Individual successes included Sudduth and her mother placing 11th out of 41 in the Parent/Child, and senior Lakin Vitton coming in sixth out of 32 in the Youth Men Singles.Most of the Big Red rowers and coxswains had limited to no practice this term, so Exeter’s notable results of the competitive Head of the Charles Regatta, or HOCR, are all the more impressive. “I was really excited with our outcome. I didn't know what to expect, but it shows that we have some serious talent on the team this year,” senior and crew co-captain Sam Helms said.The Academy had the chance to attend the Regatta after they received a lottery slot that allowed them to compete.The races took place on the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts, and a variety of the most successful teams, composed of high school students, college undergraduates, or senior citizens, attend annually. Big Red rowers and coxswains experienced more success in this year’s competition than did any team from the Academy ever at the regatta.The practice schedule leading up to the race was quite unconventional and brief, contrasting the customary routine of spring crew.“We practiced as a complete lineup only once before the competition,” Helms said. “Three of us practiced together four days a week for about three weeks before. Benj [Cohen] had to take everything off except for the on the water time, so he actually didn't prepare much.”Some rowers like Baker are in the midst of their fall sport and rarely had the chance to prepare.“Personally, I am in water polo season, so I only practiced once with our boat, and I haven’t rowed since summer. The rest of the team is doing fall crew, so they practiced occasionally, but nothing to serious,” Baker said.Because of the irregular training plan, most team members did not expect such remarkable races.“When we found out that we placed 13th out of 84, we were pretty shocked,” Drury said. “Coming in third out of the high schools, and getting beaten by only 12 other crews is a big leap from our 48th place finish last year. With only one practice in the lineup, it was truly an amazing race to be a part of.”Edwards, who rowed for the Youth Women Fours, had a similar feeling of surprise.“We were just hoping to make top half and qualify for next year, so we were really happy with the results,” she said.In addition, the course was much longer than the average two-kilometer race to which the Academy’s rowers are accustomed.“The pain in the fifteenth minute of the race was probably the hardest thing. The race ends up lasting seventeen minutes, which is pretty tiring,” Baker said.Cohen also recognized the end of the race as being incredibly difficult.“The last one thousand meters was probably the hardest part,” he said. “We came around the bend in the river, and people were cheering for us. Although that was exciting, there was still 800 meters to go, which is daunting.”Rowers believed that the most exciting part of the race was passing the other boats early in the race.“The race itself was the most exciting part. We passed six crews, and the crews leave ten seconds after each other,” Baker said. “So we passed a bunch of people, and I thought that was really exciting, just to be able to know that you were doing well in the race.”Cohen agreed. “There was an exciting moment in the race in the beginning—we were passing a bunch of crews, and we were going fast. The race was broken in three sections, and in the first section we were fifth,” he said. “We didn’t train for a sprint, so it is understandable, but we were passing crews and that was really exciting.”The team’s ability to perform well even with such little practice truly spoke to the understanding and skill of Exeter’s rowers and coxswains, as well as their friendships off the river.“Our boat is very talented, and we have a lot of experience,” Cohen said. “The team itself is a group of guys that gets along really well off the water, so I think that affects our performance.”Helms praised the impeccable navigation of the coxswains despite challenging conditions. “Nikhil steered an excellent line for us on a really windy course. Without him we would have been a lot slower,” he said.In the end, Big Red had a triumphant regatta with many memorable moments.“The most exciting part of racing at the HOCR is by far the sheer number of boats and crews from around the world, and the fact that we got to race against some of those crews was one of the most memorable experiences,” Drury said.Edwards agreed. “It was a really fun regatta,” she said. “Also, it was great to have so many people, including family and friends, cheering us on.”