Posted November 13, 2013
Recap of the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta and Row New York’s Tour of Rutgers University
Last weekend Row New York headed down to Camden, New Jersey for our last regatta of the fall season! Competing at the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta is a long standing tradition for Row New York, and our teams were eager to finish their fall season on a high note.
On the way down to the regatta, the teams got the chance to stop at Rutgers University for a tour of their boathouse and rowing programs. The rowing program tour complemented previous campus and academic program tours. We were fortunate enough to be guided by Gabby Oliveira, a former Row New York U23 program member and adaptive rowing volunteer. She is now a senior at Rutgers and did an amazing job providing an engaging and informative tour for all of our athletes!
Despite hopes to the contrary, the weather conditions at the regatta on Sunday were less than ideal. Our Queens Boathouse crews were scheduled to race in the morning while our Manhattan crews had to wait until the afternoon. After fighting 30 mph winds and whitecaps to get up to the start, our Queens crews consistently cruised down the course with the wind at their backs to cross the finish line with great times. Every coach was impressed with the effort put in over the last two weeks in practice and how the teams responded to the conditions. The highlight of the day came when the Varsity Women’s quad pulled in a gold medal!
Unfortunately the weather deteriorated so much in the afternoon that the organizers were forced to cancel the afternoon events. Because of this, our Manhattan teams didn’t get a chance to race. They did however get the experience of being regatta spectators and really enjoyed cheering on our Queens Boathouse crew. Joining them in this effort was the entirety of the novice team who visited for the day to watch and learn!
We would like to give a shout out to all of the parents for the support and the continuous stream of burgers and hotdogs to feed our hungry athletes throughout the day! Also, we would also like to thank Rutgers Women’s Head Coach Heather Putnam for her hospitality. Be sure to look out for updates from our winter season coming up soon!
