Student Life

Issue date: 10/23/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Sharon Wang Men's varsity team, back row, from the left: Will Thomas, Ryan Whelpley,

Media Credit: Zuzana Tothova The eights men's squad races down the river past a crowd of spectators at HOCR. From left: Julie Higgins, Kevin Sullivan, Ryan Whelpley, Nate Klass, Kenny Klien, John Pasinski, Alex Jones, Ricky Soukup, and Pat Hunt.

Physiologists claim that rowing a 2,000-meter race is equal to playing back-to-back basketball games.

While most of campus was relaxing over Fall Break, the Washington University rowing team was participating in a 4,828 meter (three mile) head race. This weekend marked the 42nd Head of the Charles in Boston.

The Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) is the world's largest rowing event and the largest annual sporting event. Spanning two days and attracting over 8,200 participants from 16 countries and more than 250,000 spectators, the race is easily the most important race of the fall for all teams participating.

Washington University is represented by both a men's and women's 'eight'. An eight, which carries nine people and more than 1,750 pounds, may weigh as little as 200 pounds. The boats are made of fiberglass composite material and propelled by four oars off each side. The boats are steered by a coxswain who also helps motivate the boat during the race, which lasts a little over 16 minutes. Coxswains serve as a coach in the boat and work to, "steer, navigate turns, evaluate technique and encourage the boat," according to Wash. U. women's coxswain, Victoria Schiffman.

Rowing has a long collegiate history; the second ever intercollegiate event was a boat race between Oxford and Cambridge in 1846. The Head of the Charles is not simply an intercollegiate event as races range from high school level to rowers in their mid-80s. This year there will be boats representing the U.S. National Team as well as other notable clubs from around the world.

Crews must receive a bid to compete at the HOCR. Bids were extended this year based on last year's overall season performance as well as each crew's performance last year at HOCR. Head of the Charles allows Wash. U. crew to compete against all levels of varsity programs, among them powerhouse rowing programs such as Harvard, Princeton and Notre Dame.

"It allows us to compete against teams we wouldn't usually get the chance to and see how we compare nationally and have a lot of fun," said men's team co-captain Kevin Sullivan.

The HOCR is a head race, which means a boat leaves the start line every 15 seconds and races both the clock and other boats. This year's crews hope to be the fastest to ever represent Wash. U., which seems likely considering their record thus far. At the North Shore Challenge, both the Men's and Women's eights squads from Wash. U. took first place finishes. At Head of the Rock both men's and women's fours medaled.

The team has been working all year for races such as the regatta over the past weekend. Each morning they leave the Clocktower at 5 a.m. for their practice site at Creve Coeur Lake, about twenty minutes from campus. After a warming up on ergometers (rowing machines more commonly referred to as 'ergs' in the rowing dialect), the team gets onto the water.

On the water workouts usually consist of drills to improve the crew's timing and blade work, as well as racing pieces. The entire team is back on campus by 8:20 a.m., just in time for a shower and class, or if they're lucky enough, a quick nap. Having already had an intense workout before most of campus has bothered to hit the snooze button, they often manage to squeeze in another workout during the afternoon. All of this must be done by 10:30 p.m., which is when most of the team is back in bed if they want six hours of sleep.

Yet, each morning over 55 athletes show up. George Pocock, a famous boat builder, once said of rowing, "it's a symphony of motion. And when you're rowing well, why it's nearing perfection - and when you reach perfection you're touching the divine." To most layman spectators rowing looks like pulling on sticks to go backwards until you throw up. So why do these athletes bother?

Maybe it's for the glory. This weekend Washington University crew men's eight finished with a time of 16.15.369 compared to the first place time of 15.08.301. The women's eight finished with a time of 17.49.294 compared to the first place time of 17.05.343. The women's crew will be automatically invited to HOCR next year, because their score is within five percent of the first place boat.

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