This past weekend five Conn students, Robin Ly ‘11, Jess Truelove ‘11, Lesley Gaughan ‘12, Alex Hielman ‘12 and Abbe Schickner ‘12, competed in the Head of the Charles, the largest two-day rowing event in the world.
The Head of the Charles takes place on the Charles River in Boston. The event was first started in 1965 by the Cambridge Boat Club, and over the past 45 years has grown into quit a spectacle.
Today, the Head of Charles hosts approximately 7,500 athletes from around the world for 55 different racing events. It is estimated that about 300,000 spectators attended the Regatta over the weekend, more than four times the amount of people who attended the Patriots game last Sunday.
The Camels qualified for the event at last Fall’s Head of the Charles when they finished 6th out of 32 boats in their race. As a result, Conn received an automatic bid to participate in the same event in 2009.
Before their race on Saturday, Head Coach Eva Kovach commented about the importance of the women’s four doing well so that they could come back in 2010.
“The women are there to race and, hopefully, earn another guaranteed entry for 2010,” Kovach said. “This tradition was started in 2007 with the women’s four that placed 14th in a field of 32. Last year the crew placed 6th. Each crew that races is essentially racing for our future spot at the regatta.”
And Kovach felt as though a lot of the crew’s success rested on the performance of Robin Ly, the Camels’ coxswain.
“Some call this regatta a ‘coxswain’s regatta,’ because the course consists of some major turns where having a great boat driver really helps. I have a lot of confidence in our coxswain, Robin Ly. I am sure she will enjoy the challenge of coxing this course.”
Ly and the Camels took to the water on Saturday afternoon. In a field of 29 boats, Conn would have to finish 18th or better in their race in order to receive an automatic bid for 2010.
The Camels finished in 10th place, just seconds behind Worcester Polytechnical Institute (9th) and Oklahoma City University (8th).
Trinity College won the race, clocking in at 19:15.668. Dowling College, the University of Chicago, Marquette, Texas, Georgia Tech and Kansas University all rounded out the top 7. Along with WPI and Oklahoma City, those crews should receive automatic bids for 2010.
Simmons, Vassar, Bowdoin, Willamette University, Wellesley, the University of St. Thomas, Wheaton and Skidmore qualified for next year as well.
