A Rowing Reunion As Columbia Crew Teams Reconnect And Compete At The 56th Annual Head Of The Charles

Upper West Side NY

28 October, 2021

1:01 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY TALYA LERNER OCTOBER 26, 2021 On a sunny October weekend, the Columbia women's and heavyweight men's rowing teams competed in the 56th annual Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Massachusetts. With sunbathers on the grass by the banks of the river, the world's largest crew event resembled more of a summer music festival than an autumn sporting competition. From Oct. 22 to Oct. 24, thousands of spectators and rowers mingled, watched the races, and enjoyed the clam chowder bread bowls for the first time in two years. Typically, the Charles serves as an annual reunion for the sport, drawing over 10,000 members of the rowing community to Boston for the event. After having been canceled for just the second time in its 56-year history due to COVID-19, this regatta marked the first time that the rowing community has returned for the fanfare since the pandemic. Columbia brought three boats to the event. In the women's competition, the club four boat placed ninth out of 54, and the championship four boat finished ninth out of 14. While the men's lightweight team did not send any boats, the heavyweight team competed in the men's championship doubles, finishing in 11th place out of 14 teams. A slew of Columbia alumni boats also competed, including a class of 2020 men's alumni four, which placed sixth in its event. The women's championship four, coxed by senior Tteja Senthilnathan with first-year Emily Kilroy and juniors Elisa Luo, Lulu Gebbie and Caitlin Walsh, finished in ninth place, seven seconds behind Princeton. In a heat of 14 boats, the race had many gaps between teams, but the Light Blue battled hard and kept close to the Tigers. The women's club four, rowed by first-year Esme Dodge, first-year Clara Cheng, senior Ishara Abbey, sophomore Jaia Wingard, and coxed by senior Ashley Kim, rowed from their 43rd starting place to a ninth place finish. "It was a really good race," Dodge said. "We had a lot of movements in the boat throughout the past couple weeks of practice, so it was hard to have a consistent lineup, but I think we did well considering that." The race was close: the Lions trailed Dartmouth by less than two seconds, and there was only a one minute and 12 second difference between the first-place Calgary Rowing Club and the ninth-place Columbia team. Cheng said that despite the surprise speed of "dark horses" such as the University of Miami, she was confident in their performance. "There were a lot of competitive teams out there, so I think it was good," she said. The men's heavyweight team sent only two rowers: junior John Theodore and senior Clay Watson, who competed in the men's championship doubles. However, their road to the race was not easy. The athletes earned their spots only after hitting specific performance metrics on the rowing machine. "It's a real commitment on their part. There were days when they were waking up early, like even earlier, and they'd be on the water earlier than the team, they'd go for a spin, and then have a whole team session," director of rowing Scott Alwin said. The competition ended with Theodore and Watson cruising to an 11th place finish of 14 boats in a competitive heat. Like many other Columbia teams, this season poses both an incredible opportunity and challenge for the Light Blue's rowing crews, as sophomores and first-years have yet to compete in a collegiate division. However, on the heavyweight rowing team, according to Alwin, there is much excitement. "It's been great, there's a ton of enthusiasm. It's definitely more teaching and learning happening, and not just hitting the ground running," Alwin said. "But in terms of their fitness and training, they were all ready to go when the year started, so they were prepared to get into it and they have." Assistant head coach Andrew Hess explained that the lightweight team did not send any boats to the regatta this year due to the number of new recruits and athletes who have never competed with the team, as well as COVID-19 concerns. In addition, the Head of the Charles is a much longer course than the typical collegiate championship rowing races Columbia competes in, which take place in the spring. "With the lightweights, we train very much for June, and so at this time of year we are not ever very fast," Hess said. "In 2018 when we won the national championship, when we came here, we came in 10th." Indeed, the Charles can also serve as far more than an exhibition of any individual team's talent. The Regatta functions as a way to celebrate the sport of rowing, and the close-knit community it creates and helps maintain, with many former rowers returning to the Regatta every year to spectate and socialize. For Columbia, one of the highlights of the weekend was the alumni presence at the races. "I didn't even know there were so many alumni, and that this alumni race was such a big deal. Clearly, everyone loves it [enough] that they come back and race every year, which I really think speaks to the team culture," Dodge said. Along with the men's alumni four, which claimed sixth place, two other men's alumni boats and a women's alumnae eight also competed. Shenanigans ensued when one men's alumni boat lost an oar during the last stretch of the race, leading to much laughter from spectators. For others, the race was a homecoming. Not only did Dodge and Cheng return to their hometowns, but they also returned to their home courses, having both previously rowed with Community Rowing on the Charles River in Cambridge. In a reprieve from the big buildings and noise of the city, the escape to Cambridge allows Columbia crew to find community in the broader international sport. "I love the Head of the Charles weekend. You see rowers everywhere, and that's so fun, because usually rowing is not a big deal," Dodge said. Staff Writer Talya Lerner can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @LernerTalya. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.