The solid season-openings at Head of the Riverfront set high hopes for the crew teams as they headed to Cambridge, Mass., on Oct. 20 for the 54th annual Head of the Charles Regatta. Since its inception in 1965, the Head of the Charles has become a prestigious race and now is the largest two-day Regatta in the world, attracting hundreds of thousands of rowers to the banks of the Charles River.

c/o Wesleyan University

The women’s team competed in as many as four events over that weekend, with the Varsity Eight finishing in sixth-place in the Women’s Collegiate Eights. It was the whole team’s top performance. As last year’s runner-up and the previous year’s champion, the women’s V8 attracted much attention and intense competition in the Collegiate Eights race. As expected, they managed to thrive under pressure and finish strong in a time of 19:15.840. The current record holder of the course, Bates College, defended their title with a mark of 18:18.054, outpacing the runner-up Williams and third-place Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Just half an hour later, the Wesleyan Varsity 4 boat finished 14th overall in the 40-team field with a mark of 22:02.002, ahead of their Little Three foes Williams and Amherst. This marked an impressive win, as defeating the Mammoths and Ephs is always newsworthy at Wesleyan.  On Saturday, the Women’s Club Fours finished 34th in the 52-boat field with a mark of 20:36.125. The event featured a number of Division I programs including the top-three finishers, Marist College (18:44.285), University of Tennessee (18:44.443) and Dartmouth College (18:56.453), so the finish was impressive given the competition.

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c/o Arya Alizadeh

n the same water, the Wesleyan men’s crew team highlighted its campaign with a 12th place finish among the 36 collegians in the men’s Collegiate Eight race. Coming off of a winning performance at Head of the Riverfront, the Cardinals improved their 17th place finish from last year and established themselves as the top NESCAC crew at the Charles River. Despite the rough water condition with a punishing headwind throughout the course, the men’s Varsity Eight handled the adversities well and pulled off a strong closing mile to cross the line in 16:44.252. The event was won by the renowned Michigan Rowing Association with a time of 15:58.108. In addition, the second V8 boat competed in men’s club eight on Saturday and finished 14 of 36 in a predominantly DI field. Coxed by Danny Helfman ’21, the team navigated the winding 4,800-meter course with a time of 15:46.771.

Unfortunately, despite being the favorites at Head of the Fish, the Cardinals had to end their day early as weather conditions worsened around noon, and all remaining competitions were cancelled. Nevertheless, three boats from the women’s team were able to compete and excel in several events, with a third-place finish in the Varsity Eights race and another in the 2V8+ event. The only boat from the men’s team that was able to race was the Collegiate 4+ boat, which finished 22nd of 36 teams.

The campaign at Fish marked the end of fall campaign for both teams. While the last three long-distance races have been enjoyable to watch, the majority of the teams’ competition, including the New England Championships, takes place during the spring season. The fall season provides excellent opportunities for the team to test its merits before the winter. As always, stay tuned with The Argus for another thrilling rowing season starting this March.

Henry Yang can be reached at hyang01@wesleyan.edu.