Illinois Rowing makes program history in Boston!
This weekend, for the first time in program history, both our men’s and women’s boats at Head of the Charles Regatta 2023 placed in the top half of their events, securing a return to Boston next year. It is also the first time since 2015 that any Illinois Men’s boat has secured an automatic bid for the next year’s regatta. Our Women’s Collegiate 4+ placed 17th of 38, and our Men’s Collegiate 4+ placed 18th of 44. We had an incredible weekend racing at the Charles, and are looking forward to going down the course once more! We would like to particularly thank WinTech and the Virginia Men’s Rowing Team for the use of their shells this weekend, and NK and Concept2 for their generosity and assistance with team equipment.
Lineups:
Men’s 4+: Women’s 4+:
Cox: Sasha Rushing Rachel Qiu
4: Gabriel Pfister Genna Peters
3: Tommy Moreno Norah Harson
2: Matt Ross Kassandra Estrella
1: Bruce Moore Sylvia Gimbel
Place: 18/44 Place: 17/38
Both crews left Champaign on Thursday, driving up to Chicago after classes ended for the day. We landed in Boston very early Friday morning, and drove to the houses of our extremely generous former coaches, Bill Grier and Erik Kroeker. We appreciate them so much for allowing us to stay with them this weekend.
After a nice long rest, the crews proceeded to the course for a swing row in the mid-afternoon on Friday. Some quick exploration of the course and tents was followed by an extensive traffic jam near the launch docks, and then again at Elliot Bridge, but such is the danger of the Charles swing row. The swing row was nevertheless highly productive, both crews settling into the shells we borrowed for the weekend. After the swing row, Norah had scheduled us an alumni dinner for 7pm at an Afghan restaurant. The men’s 4 arrived somewhat late, as we had not thought through the exact dinner timing, and so had to rush back to Erik’s to change out of rowing kit before going to dinner, a process that was made substantially more difficult by rush hour traffic. Still, dinner was tasty, and it was good to speak to former coaches and alumni.
Saturday was a day off to explore the course and Boston, though it proved to be rather rainy. Still, everyone got in the obligatory HOCR merchandise acquisitions and watching of boats coming through Elliot bridge. The team split up after a race prep meeting with Jack at 2pm, going off to get lunch and see the city. Everyone was rather wet by the end of the day, but it was a lot of fun to see some races and wander around.
Sunday was race day, and both crews arrived at the course before noon in order to assist with some oar transport and race prep. The men raced first, racing at 3:07pm Eastern in the Men’s Collegiate Coxed 4s, with the women following in the next event at 3:23pm Eastern, the Women’s Collegiate Coxed 4s. While the rain had stopped, wind speeds over the course were brutal, particularly in the warmup basin. Once we were racing, however, this was no obstacle to our crews. Norah Harson and Bruce Moore volunteer the following about their experiences racing, in both cases the first time they had ever been on the Charles river:
Norah Harson, Women’s Collegiate Coxed 4: Conditions were definitely at the forefront of my mind as we waited to begin our race. It was one thing knowing it was windy from the shore, but another entirely sitting on the water and feeling it push on my blade. However, once the race started, fears of the wind settled, replaced by the excitement of the chase. We passed our first boat in the first 250 meters. We continued to up the press as we walked down the 5k and built up a solid swing. The wind would buffet our boat, but we had a strong emphasis on a quick recovery and successfully fought it off. This along with our efficient line were what I’d say were our strongest advantages throughout the bulk of the race. Approaching Elliot bridge, in a dramatic climax, Illinois, Middlebury, and New Hampshire were all within half a length of each other. The second we cleared the bridge, we jumped up to a sprint racing to the end. It was an invigorating race with great crewmates. I couldn’t have asked for a more exciting first Charles experience.
Bruce Moore, Men’s Collegiate Coxed 4: Leading up to our Sunday afternoon race, our crew had the opportunity to watch elite rowing, peruse the endless merch, and size up the competition. We sustained ourselves on regatta food, afghani cuisine, and some of the best cannolis in the world, not to mention the various other snacks we came across such as goldfish, muffins, whole baguettes, and free apples from the C2 tent. All this fueled our stand out performance. The warm up revealed cloudy and extremely windy conditions (all but Tommy opting to wear splash jackets for the warm up). Despite this, our boat delivered an unprecedented leap from 42nd seed to 18th place that secured an auto-bid for us to come back next year and take another shot at the collegiate MV4+! This was an unforgettable experience that all of Illinois Rowing looks forward to next year. Big thanks to our dedicated coaches Jack and Zoe, as well as all the support we had from viewers and family members!
Both crews did incredible work on the river, pushing themselves to the limit against some of the finest competition in the country. Our strong showings this year set us up for even better results at the Charles next year, as the team continues to develop and grow. We hope to see everyone in Boston next year!
