The University of Rhode Island women’s rowing team raced against some of the best teams worldwide, battling top NCAA crews, national teams and Olympians at one of the world’s largest regattas over the weekend.
Founded in 1965, the Head of the Charles is a historic rowing event where thousands of international athletes compete against the clock, according to the event’s website.
“That’s the best in the world,” Rhode Island head coach Shelagh Donohoe said. “The athletes did a great job, especially because we have such a young team. It was another great learning experience that’s gonna help us.”
The Rams placed 36th out of 48 boats in the Women’s Alumnae Eights race on Saturday, with a time of 19:51.935. The boat included Rhode Island rowing alumni Hailey Pardi ’25, Isabella Bruno ’25, Nicole Jones ’24, Samantha Gumprecht ’24, Katherine Shattuck ’19, Liv Kowalski ’24, Jessica Tosi ’24, Morgan Cody ’22 and coxswain Elizabeth McGee ’25.
The University of Washington took first place in the Alumnae race with a time of 15:45.620. The Huskies were followed by Cambridge University alumni, finishing in 16:24.534. The University of Texas at Austin rounded out the top three.
Rhode Island also competed in the Women’s Championship Eights on Sunday, finishing 28th out of 32 boats. The boat consisted of second-years Charlotte Aeder, Sasha Hanewald, Sierra Munroe and Rachel Bauhuas, third-years Elizabeth Mayer, Nora Lake and Sage Sabatino, and fourth-years Anna Kann and Isabella Bianchi.
The races were a valuable learning experience for the Rams as they continue to fine-tune their rowing rate, the number of strokes taken per minute. The team is hoping to make up for lost time due to URI’s academic calendar affecting the team’s preparation.
“School starts late because we can’t move in until after Labor Day,” Donohoe said. “We don’t get on the water till the middle of September. I feel like we’re a little behind because we were rating lower. Top programs are rating at 36 and we’re down at 32.”
The Rams will wrap up their fall slate on Nov. 1 at the Princeton Chase in Princeton, New Jersey. Rhode Island will use next week to adjust their racing strategy.
“We’ll see a lot of our competition,” Donohoe said. “We’ve been working on a lot of technical changes, and being able to take those changes in a race situation is hard. The fall is a great time for learning and getting the boats as fast as we can. I think we’re prime and ready to do it.”
After Rhode Island concludes its fall season, the Rams will focus on the spring season as they aim to defend their third straight Atlantic 10 Conference title and improve upon their 20th-place finish at the NCAA Championship in 2026.
