by Sam Rojas, Manhattan boys varsity, raced in the Men’s Youth 4+ at this year’s HOCR
This past weekend was Head Of The Charles and I had a great time. We came in 50th of 84, but we still had a successful race. What made it successful was the fact that we were able to go out there and give it everything we had. Our race went really well. We got up to the start and there were a LOT of boats. The water was really choppy and it was extremely windy. For the first 400 hundred meters, it was tough due to the conditions – not just for us but for the other boats too. A couple of minutes into our race, we walked the crew that had shot before us and we didn’t let anyone walk on us. It was very exciting and motivating being able to see the other crews that shot after us and holding them off. As the water got calmer we performed a lot better. We had a good amount of power behind our strokes and we raced hard all the way to the finish.
What made HOCR unique to me was the atmosphere. Every person on the water had the same intentions as me: pull hard, walk boats, and walk away from others. No one said it, but you definitely felt the competitiveness on the water and I loved it. The atmosphere made me want it even more.
Our boat had a great mentality going into the race. We knew there were going to be fast crews and we didn’t let that affect us. We went in with the mentality that we were going to walk crews and hold the other crews off as long as we could. That is exactly what we did.
Row New York entered two boats in the 52nd Head of the Charles. The Charles had more than 11,000 athletes compete at the two-day event, and attracted the best crews from around the world. Row New York entered the Women’s Youth 8+ event with a composite boat of Manhattan and Queens athletes and entered a Men’s Youth 4+ with the Manhattan Varsity boys.
Women’s Youth 8+ – 75th of 85
The crew was hoping to place better however during the race they had to come to a full stop to avoid a collision, which impacted their result. Hazards and collisions are common to the regatta, and the girls handled the setback well and were proud of the work they put in to the composite crew.
Men’s Youth 4+ – 50th of 85
The crew performed well in some of the most challenging conditions of the regatta, with head winds gusting to 30+ mph on the course. The boys were happy with their effort but disappointed that they narrowly missed an automatic bid for next year. Finishing in the top half of the field guarantees an entry for next year’s race, which they missed by 8 seconds over the 19-minute race.
Up next is the Head of Schuylkill, where both our masters and student-athletes will be racing this coming weekend. Let’s go Row New York!
