Radcliffe Crew Shines at Head of the Charles Regatta

At the 2014 Head of the Charles Regatta, the Radcliffe crew team rowed to a runner-up finish and three additional top-10 finishes on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

Despite finishing second overall, the Black and White lightweights secured the top collegiate finish in the eights division, placing second only to the Dutch national team. The top Radcliffe heavyweight eights boat stroked to an eighth-place finish.

HEAVYWEIGHTS

A boat stroked by co-captain Lizzy Fitzhenry and coxed by senior Jenny Wong ended up placing eighth in the women’s heavyweight championship eights division. Radcliffe’s second varsity boat finished 23rd in the 34-boat field paced by Cambridge University.

“We got off to a really strong start,” Fitzhenry said. “We moved very quickly on Notre Dame, who was directly in front of us, and we fought alongside them until Weeks [Bridge]. We just in time got in front of them in order to take the tight turn that we needed.”

Even with this smooth start, the race was not smooth sailing. The conditions provided quite a challenge.

“There was definitely a very strong headwind for a majority of the course, which always makes it more difficult,” Fitzhenry said. “But we are an experienced crew and we dealt with the conditions well. And although we had a few rough patches, we were able to get it back pretty quickly.”

Radcliffe also prepared to combat the specific challenges of the course. The three-mile race under bridges was full of twists and turns. The Head of the Charles is also a head race, meaning boats start at different times instead of racing side-by-side.

“During the fall, we definitely practice the Head of the Charles course a lot, and we’ll start our boats in head-style racing,” Fitzhenry said. “We were prepared for it.”

LIGHTWEIGHTS

Captain Olivia Henry, along with four other seniors, earned Radcliffe’s highest finish of the day for its lightweights, as junior coxswain Gabriella Giugliano guided the crew to a second-place finish out of 12 boats in the women’s eights division.

The boat was the top collegiate crew in the race, finishing 18 seconds ahead of Boston University. The Dutch national team crossed the line 15 seconds ahead of the Black and White to take top honors.

“[The Dutch] were very fast,” said freshman Ada Bielawski, who rowed in the Radcliffe boat. “We went right after them, and we really wanted to tail them down.”

Radcliffe’s second varsity boat placed 10th, and an additional Black and White boat took seventh in a 13-boat lightweight fours division.

The course tested the crew’s endurance. While most collegiate courses are 2,000 meters, the Head of the Charles spans double this distance.

“One of our biggest challenges is rowing as well through every section of the course—not just the beginning,” Bielawski said. “Even trying to make up time at the end is very important for us.”

The head-style racing and narrow course required active strategy from every member of the team. The top Radcliffe boat gained confidence as it closed the gap on its competitors.

“The crews that us rowers can see, we could tell that they fell away,” Bielawski said. “Their coxswains didn’t take really good courses, so we could tell we were gaining on them, and that definitely helped us get through the rest of the piece.”

While the heavyweight and lightweight boats both combated weather conditions, a narrow course, and a head-style race, Radcliffe crew has bigger goals for its year-long season.

“We’re all really excited that we did so well in this regatta,” Beilawski said. “We can see that our team has a lot of depth because all of our boats did really well. We really want to carry that through in the spring and win a national championship again. That’s our goal.”

“It’s great to do well at Head of the Charles,” Fitzhenry added. “This is just a stepping stone and an opportunity to learn about ourselves and how we can get faster.”