10/20/2004 - Women's Crew
Crew Teams Head to Boston for Head of the Charles
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The largest two-day rowing event in the world will once again include the three Navy crew teams as each program will send boats to participate in this weekend's Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.
The 2.5-mile course features head-style, or single-file racing on the Charles River with the starting line near Boston University. The course winds its way upstream and finishes in Cambridge near Harvard and is viewed annually by crowds in excess of 150,000 people. The field for the regatta will include crews from nearly every major rowing school on the East Coast, as well as national and Olympic teams from around the world.
The 2003 edition of the regatta saw Navy's lightweight team place fifth overall and third among U.S. colleges, the heavyweight squad placed 13th overall and seventh among U.S. colleges and the women's team placed 30th overall and 25th against U.S. colleges. This year, each of the teams are coming off victories at last weekend's Navy Day Regatta on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
Sunday, the lightweight four division will begin at 1:20 p.m. (13 boats, four colleges), the lightweight eight at 2:12 p.m. (21 boats, 10 colleges), the heavyweight four at 2:38 p.m. (25 boats, 16 colleges), the heavyweight eight at 3:09 p.m. (37 boats, 22 colleges) and the women's race at 3:25 p.m. (42 boats, 31 colleges).
"It is a very, very difficult course," said women's head coach Mike Hughes. "There are more turns in this course than on any other head-style course, as well as a ton of bridges with narrow racing lanes. Steering is a challenge. Not only do you need a good coxswain to guide you, the rowers need to quickly make the necessary adjustments and you need to stay clear of other boats on the course. We are looking to have a good, clean run."
"The favored crews will be the national teams from the U.S., Great Britain and the Dutch crew," said heavyweight head coach Rick Clothier of the field in his championship eight event. "Last year's top colleges were Harvard and Princeton. Any college or university crew which can place in the top-10 overall or among the top-six colleges will have enjoyed a fine day."
