Crew team rows at Head of the Charles Regatta

The Carnegie Mellon rowing club traveled to Boston, Mass., to compete at the Head of the Charles Regatta Saturday, Oct. 20, and Sunday, Oct. 21. Over 8200 individuals in more than 1700 boats competed along the three-mile course on the Charles River.

“This regatta is the most well-attended regatta in the world,” junior co-captain Brian McGraw said. “It’s considered an honor by many just to be able to row in it. The competition for the most part is top-notch, with Ivy League schools, competitive boat clubs, and national teams participating.”

Competition included Dartmouth College; Yale, Cornell, and Columbia universities; the Riverside Boat Club; the New York Athletic Club; the Penn Athletic Club; the Undine Barge Club; and the Canadian national team.

On Saturday, the Tartans took 22nd out of 32 teams in the women’s collegiate four with a time of 20:47.120. The women’s team consisted of sophomore Alex Cirillo, first-years Susan Anderson, Alyssa Fogel, and Alexa Zinn, and sophomore coxswain Tom Lewkowitz. Marquette University won the race with a time of 19:19.167.
On Sunday, the men’s lightweight four finished in 23rd place with a time of 20:17.891. The team consisted of senior Adam Goldhammer, McGraw, junior Chris Herlich, sophomore Zach Frenchek, and junior coxswain Elliot Beltzer. The New York Athletic Club won the race with a time of 16:29.091.

The Tartan women’s lightweight four took 12th out of 18 teams with a time of 20:08.360. Carnegie Mellon beat out local competition Duquesne University, which came in 13th place with a time of 20:12.955. The Undine Barge Club of Philadelphia won the event with a time of 18:32.293.

The women’s lightweight boat consisted of juniors Judith Vogel, Natalie Weir, and Danielle Millett, first-year Hannah Vogel, and first-year coxswain Anthea Fernandes.
Carnegie Mellon was supposed to compete at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta in Philadelphia, Pa. last Saturday, but the regatta was canceled due to weather concerns.
The rowing club is scheduled to compete at the Head of the Occoquan in Fairfax, Va., this Saturday and Sunday.

“I hope that the weather cooperates and allows us to race next weekend, and that our novice boats perform well in their first regatta outside of Pittsburgh,” McGraw said.