Racing against some of the best teams worldwide, the University of Rhode Island women’s rowing team battled top NCAA crews, national teams and Olympians at one of the world’s largest regattas over the weekend.
The Head of the Charles, which was founded in 1965, regularly attracts thousands of crews, according to the event’s website . Almost 400,000 people were involved in the event in 2023, which spans three miles up the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Two Rhode Island crews raced in the regatta’s championship event: the Varsity 8+ finished last of the 30-boat field, while the Varsity 4+ finished slightly better, finishing 17th of 18.
“We fared well, and I don’t think there’s any room for any kind of mishaps or mistakes when you’re racing against the best,” URI Head Coach Shelagh Donohoe said. “We got tangled up in a couple of areas, and that can’t happen when you’re in that event. I think it was a great race, and I think we raced well, and I think we learned a lot, and we’ll continue to build off of that.”
Rhode Island qualified for the Women’s Championship Eights and the Women’s Championship Fours, which are the most competitive races of the regatta, a fter securing its 10th Atlantic 10 title and competing at the NCAA tournament last season, according to Donohoe. At the Charles, the team raced against the likes of the Dutch national team and several crews who recently competed at the Olympic games, among other top international boats.
“It was just super inspiring to see how they hold themselves on the water, but also just how they’re preparing for their races on land… and what they’re doing after their races,” third-year captain Emma Brookins, who was a member of the Varsity 4+ boat, said. “I think we can learn a lot from how they perform on the water.”
Although Rhode Island finished at the tail end of the pack in both races, Donohoe and Brookins took valuable experience from the opportunity to race international crews that went beyond the final standings.
“I think like just racing international teams and stuff, compared to collegiate teams, it’s a lot higher level of commitment you need,” Brookins said. “I think we all did a really good job of walking in and like committing to, ‘okay, this is a process and it’s going to be hard, but we can compete with them and we can race with them and we can also learn from them.’”
For Donohoe, the fall season is purely focused on development rather than results, as the team prepares to defend their A-10 title ahead of championship season in the spring.
“There’s another level beyond where we’re at, and it’s great to be able to go out there and see what we compare,” Donohoe said. “It’s fun to see the best of the best compete and being part of that… there’s thousands of people rowing. It’s an event like no other event that they’ll race in with three miles of people cheering. And that’s usually not the case with rowing. So it’s a fun regatta to compete in.”
Up next, the team will return to collegiate action as it rounds out its fall slate with two more races, first heading to the Princeton Chase on Nov. 3 before concluding the season at the Foot of the Charles in Boston on Nov. 9.