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by Community Rowing Program Director Matt Logue, Manhattan Varsity Program Director Tom Eichler, and Queens Varsity Program Director Mike Eichler

Another beautiful weekend met the Row New York crews at the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, PA.

The Queens varsity team had impressive performances across the board. Almost all of the boats finished in the top half of their events with more than 50 entries in many categories! Queens varsity raced two Under 17 fours, an Under 19 quad, a non-varsity 8 and a varsity 8 at the Regatta. Our team is showing great depth and a will to get better–this regatta was a great barometer for gauging our fall season improvement.
We’re looking forward to the Braxton Regatta as our final race for the fall season. It will be the springboard for our transition into our winter season!

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Queens 4+ powering down the course!

The Manhattan varsity rowers had a day full of accomplishments as well!
The good luck started right at the course itself, as Manhattan Varsity Program Director Tom Eichler’s home racing course was the Schuylkill River. The familiarity was a comforting aspect for Coach Eichler and his athletes.
The Manhattan varsity girls had a great day of racing. The JV came in 16th out of 47 crews in their race. They did a very good job of making technical improvements throughout the week of practice leading up to the race, and were able to utilize those improvements during the race. This directly resulted in their good performance! The first varsity squad came in 17th out of 59 crews in their race. They executed their race plan well and raced aggressively over the entire course–a strategy they developed coming off of last week’s race. It was a great performance in a very talented and deep field.

The Manhattan varsity boys also had a good day of racing. The JV crew had to deal with breakage in the middle of their race, as an athlete’s oar handle broke and prevented him from rowing. Despite the breakage, the boat managed to place 46th out of 58 crews in their race, and felt good about how they made the best of a challenging situation. The first varsity crew finished 33rd out of 66 crews in their race, which was a solid performance for them. As a boat consisting almost entirely of lightweights, placing right in the middle of the pack against many completely heavyweight crews was a challenging and impressive feat on their part.

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Our Manhattan 8+ boys taking strokes!

The Manhattan varsity Season will culminate at the Bill Braxton Regatta in Camden NJ on November 10th. They anticipate the challenge!

Our masters and adaptive rowers had great performances, despite competitive and course challenges.

On Saturday, members of the masters women’s program competed in the Women’s College and Open 4+ event. Despite being the oldest crew in the event, Row New York’s crew rowed their way to a 31st place finish in the 40 boat event.

Shortly after the Women’s 4+ race, the Adaptive Double of long time friends, Maria Bournias (of Row New York) and Jaden Thoennes (of Community Rowing in Boston) took to the water for their 2.5 mile race down the Schuylkill. Increasing winds throughout the day made the water a bit choppy for the race but the 2x, rowing for the first time together, cruised their way to the finish line in a time of 27:21.70 and proudly wear the gold medals they earned in this event.

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The dynamic duo (and gold medalists!) Maria and Jaden with their adaptive coach Nicolas Stalmach!

On Sunday, the masters men’s 4+ were the first Row New York crew to hit the water. This crew, with athletes ranging in age from 28-65, had a great confidence building row to wrap up their fall racing season. Each member of this crew made noticeable improvements in their rowing and fitness over the course of the fall season and their work was evident in the way they raced on Sunday morning. All are looking forward to building on the confidence this race provided during their winter training season.

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Our mens master’s 4x!

In the last Row New York Community race of the weekend, the masters men’s 4x hit the course late Sunday afternoon. The men’s 4x passed several boats in the course of their race before a railroad bridge interrupted their sprint to the finish. When asked about the near collision with the bridge, the bow man replied “I was having so much fun going so fast that I forgot to turn around and look for the bridge!” Everyone was encouraged with the performance and excited to receive the gold medals for the event.

The community rowing crews have one more week of practice before a short break and the winter training begins!

The Head of the Schuylkill Regatta was a turning point for many rowers, several teams saw improvement and are gearing up for the final race of the fall season!

Big thanks to families and for helping out and keeping athletes well fed and comfortable throughout the day. We would also like to thank Jack Campbell and Jeff McGinnis of the Philadelphia Adaptive Rowing Club for lending our adaptive program a boat and their help and hospitality throughout the course of the regatta!And thank you to row2k for the fantastic photos!

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