Big Red Crew Competes in Head of the Charles Regatta

Girls youth 4+ in action at HOCR: Eden Fisher, Athena Sperantsas, Ava Cathey, Sophia Turner, Jane Park (from front to back). 

Courtesy of @exeterathletics

By  PHIN GIBBS, ERIN HAN, and AMY LIN

Early morning on Sunday, Oct. 22, the girls and boys varsity crew teams packed into buses bound for Cambridge, Massachusetts, to compete in the historic Head of the Charles Regatta. As the second largest regatta in the world, the race lasted three days. By the end of the weekend, the girls varsity 4+ boat secured third place amongst over 90 boats, not only continuing the legacy of last year’s qualifying boat but also setting up a boat to compete again next year.

For most team members, the race day began bright and early. Upper Sophia Turner and rower on the girls 4+ recalled, “We all went to bed at around seven or eight the night before, and woke up at six. The girl’s team left to go to Boston at seven which was pretty early, and the boys actually left at four because they raced at eight.”

When the teams arrived, they were met with a packed regatta. As senior and 4+ rower Edie Fisher described, it included “everyone from masters rowing into their seventies, to alumni boats from colleges, youth rowing, colleges competing, and people from all over the world.”

During the race, each boat was given a rolling start, meaning that the crews started 15 seconds apart from the other. This format of racing allowed for some thrilling moments. “I think my favorite moment [from the regatta] would definitely have to be passing crews,” senior and 4+ coxswain Jane Park said. “Because they start staggered, if you pass a crew, it means that you’re technically 15 seconds faster.”

Fisher also described the cheers from onlookers at sidelines and bridges as a highlight of the regatta. “It was just such a fun race because there’s so many people there and everyone is standing on [the] bridges,” she said.“Especially as you get to Elliot, the last bridge of six, the crowd is just roaring.”

Going into the race, several team members on the 4+ shared similar expectations — or a lack thereof — which they believed contributed to their success. “I think for my boat personally, we didn’t have [many] expectations,” Park said. “I think [that] really helped us perform as well as we did.”

“Because we all came from different experiences with rowing … we really didn’t know what we were expecting,” she continued. “So going into the Charles, we just had individual focuses rather than a boat wide focus to get x place or get x time. We focused on individual goals that we had in mind, and I think that really helped improve the speed of the boat as well.”

As team captain, senior Ellie Ana Sperantsas said, “[I don’t think] we really knew what to expect, especially because of some changes in coaching and how we also had three out of five people in the boat who were completely new and hadn’t ridden in the four before.” 

Still Sperantsas expressed confidence in the crew. “We were excited and we knew we had a pretty fast boat. I think we finally figured out our lineup late in the season,” she said.

Upper and 8+ boat coxswain Victoria MaBardy added and commented on the 8+ boat’s preparatory work. “Likewise with the 8, [we worked on] mental preparation, focusing on individually what we could do to make the boat faster, watching video debriefings after practice, seeing what we’re doing wrong to see what we can improve on. That was very helpful for us,” she continued, “In terms of expectations, for the eight, there was that pressure to just requalify… [and carry on] this race for the future of Phillips Exeter and other crews and new athletes coming into this sport in future years at the school.”

Girls crew coach Rebecca Moore, a witness to the group’s hard work in the form of five-day practices and group meetups, shared her expectations. “I thought that both the four and the eight would have a good row — they had practiced hard, worked on various changes, fine tuned their rigging, and enjoyed practices with good steering from both Jane Park and Tori Mabardy.” 

Senior and co-captain of the boys varsity crew team Michael Goodall spoke about how, although slightly disappointed in the boys’ final results, the team will be working towards a greater long-term goal of NEIRAs. “For Head of the Charles, it is not necessarily our main priority, but we always like to do well as often as we can. We have some talented guys in the crew team and had a lot of potential to do well, so we had high expectations, but it was not our main event.”

“I expected fierce competitive rowing and for all our crews to do their best, to enjoy the occasion and to relish the competition,” coach Greg Spanier added.

Turner talked about her training for the fall season and regatta. “I trained really hard over the summer and as did the rest of the people in the four. I think as a team, both in the four and the eight, we’ve been erging non stop. We’ve had really good pieces on the water. We’ve been competing with each other with good friendly competition, completing five Ks (Kilometer Races) every two weeks. All of us played our part to be the best athletes we possibly can,” she said.

Spanier touched on their intensity in practice. “The competing teams trained five days a week, with some long and challenging workouts.  The athletes trained hard and deserve enormous credit for their magnificent achievement.  They were also very well prepared by the many coaches in our program, including, in particular, prior coaches Morris, Moore and Cathey.” 

Coxswain and senior Jane Park commented on her boat’s pre-practice meetings. “I think something that helped for my boat was, before every practice we would have a small, very brief boat meeting to kind of go over personal focuses of the day. And I think taking a more individual approach to the race, not in the sense that you’re only focusing on yourself, but focusing on yourself in that you want to be the best athlete that you can be for the boat rather than setting expectations for other people.”

“I think team culture was super important this season. Every year [and] every season we have a talk with the team [to] get to know everyone and make sure everyone knows who everyone is. It’s super important to have trust in one another when you need to rely on each other. And in terms of more physical preparation, we did 5Ks so we could really see where everyone was [and] feel confident in who we were choosing for each boat,” Fisher said.  

Amidst all the excitement and hard work, rowers recalled their highlights of the regatta.

“There was one point where we had a little crash, but after that we picked right back up. None of us were flustered. I could feel the determination and grit of all the girls that were in my boat and how much we just wanted it and we weren’t going to let this little  incident take anything away from us. That was a pretty powerful moment,” upper Ava Cathey said. 

“Surprisingly, we were able to kind of figure it out and get recollected relatively quickly. It was a moment that I will never forget. It’s one for the books. We were able to really come together. We ended up beating most of the crews and came in third by about 15 seconds, which was super, super fun and impressive,” Park added. 

“Our sprint was really good. It was the 700 meters of the race. I remember blacking out a little at the end, but it was a really good sprint. Afterwards, we paddled back up to the dock and finding out that we got third place was really cool,” Turner said. 

“I really loved watching the collegiate women’s races, because it was really enjoyable for me to see rowers, who are so much stronger and better than I am, row. It was really satisfying,” upper Bea Prairie added.

“I think my memorable moment was obviously medaling,” Park said. “It was a great race, and the  medal is a good representation of all the work that we’ve put in throughout the season. [And] I think [as I] just talk and reflect back on the race itself, my favorite moment definitely has to be passing crews. Since the race had a rolling start, if you passed a crew, that meant that you were technically 15 seconds faster. [Every time that happened] I think it…gave us a boost of adrenaline.”

Rowers who rowed in the Head of Charles regatta in previous years reflected upon their experience in comparison to this year. “We just felt so strong. It’s definitely difficult to remember previous races, but I just remember the shock of watching the boat falling away because we were just gaining on them,” Fisher said.  

“Last year I raced in the eight which was really cool,” Turner  said. “It was my first year. I remember being really scared last year mostly because I had just finished my first season of rowing in the spring, and I really didn’t know what to expect. I’d never really done 5Ks before. It was a little terrifying because there were so many people. I think we placed 47th, which was pretty cool.”

“It’s just a totally different experience racing in four. Having that really small boat, you all get to know each other so well over the course of the season. We had a really set lineup as well. So, I know we all just wanted [to win] really badly. We had so much trust in each other,” Turner added. 

For Park, this year’s regatta presented a fresh experience. “I mean, for me personally, this was my first time actually competing at the Charles. I was there last year, but I was there as a spare. In that sense, I didn’t really have a standard to gauge our performance at the Regatta. But I think just in comparison to previous years, I would say that the conditions were probably worse than they were last year. It was very windy and cold. It just wasn’t an ideal condition for growing. So in that sense, I’m very proud of the performance that both the four and the eight did. We were brick walls. Something that my coach said was to be brick walls for the entire race –– let nothing affect [you],” Park said. 

As the Head of Charles Regatta concluded and the fall season is drawing to a close, both coaches and rowers are looking forward to the year ahead. 

“Many athletes will be training during the winter in preparation for the spring season, during which we compete in a series of side-by-side races over a shorter distance, 1500 meters,” Spanier said. 

“Up until spring season from this point on, it’s erging, lifting, building strength and cardiovascular. So the technique time of being on the water is finished, but now it’s just strength building up until March. So hopefully the river will thaw at the beginning of March and we can get back on,” Fisher added.  

“For winter training, if you would like to prepare, you can opt, and we all work together above the basketball courts. It’s really fun and goofy. There’s lots of loud music playing. It’s just a really good team bonding experience. You get a lot faster and  it’s really cool to see so many people improve and PR,” Turner said. 

“We’re always working towards the next thing. I think NEIRA in the New England championships in the spring is always our end goal. There are other races that come before that, but you’re always working to win a championship. I think our team has a lot of potential,” Sperantsas said.