Head of the Charles
 

Perfect weather for the Head of the Charles today! I rowed in college and then coached for 5 years after, rowing was and is one of my top 3 passions in life along with cooking and cars, especially 911s of course. When I was 21 I said my retirement would be restoring 911s and coaching & rowing. I have one of those, if I could only get some help so I have to time to coach and row, I'd be fully retired. 😃. Spent the morning with my dearest college friend and her family talking and watching some exciting rowing times, I didn't catch some of the best: boats overtaking others and oars clashing. Some videos are better than others, all are worth a look especially at certain times. iPhone 13 Pro is a great camera but has its limitations for video. Have to get back into rowing next year.

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Mrs. Noah's envious. She rowed in it in college.

I used to kayak Great Falls on the Potomac all the time. A friend of mine let us take out at the rowing ramp at Georgetown University...great Fall day, water was good and my partner and I wanted to spend some time on the upper stretches of the Potomac. Lazy day, good parking at both places.

The Georgetown crew team, in a lot of different boats/shells were assembling in I think an area they call the Three Sisters. There was no meet, just practice.

My buddy and I hugged the shore on the left, down river, and just watched.

If you have never seen crewing, I had not at that time, what jumps out at you are two things: Speed and cooperation.

It really is something.

Philly is a big rowing town, the Dad Vail is something to see.

The Boys in the Boat is a great read if you haven't hit it already.

Know nothing about the sport...but it's almost poetic to watch....

Quick google says it will be out as a movie in 2023, looking forward to seeing it.

I rowed in the Dad Vail twice in a lightweight 4; that was 33 years ago so not a lightweight anymore. :). Coaching we brought many boats. Great race.

My last race there a huge storm came up while we were on the water. We raced instead of going back in. The waves were ocean-like. We rowed our hearts out and saw behind us the bows/sterns of 3 of the 6 boats in the race sticking straight up out of the water like steeples on submerged churches. We won the race but they nullified it. Next day we raced again and got killed since we were spent from the previous day. The good part was since it was the end of the season, we could gorge on Philly cheesesteaks. :D

So many amazing memories around rowing.

Objectively, rowing is the best sport ever created. A boat is only as good as its worst rower. No one is a star, the boat has to function as one perfectly synchronized organism, including the coxswain. To be the best, you have to:

have the grace and body control of a ballet dancer
the strength of a bodybuilder
the stamina of a cross country runner
the muscle efficiency of a sprinter
the focus of a chess player
the grit of a warrior

and so on.

And you have to have all of those working together while you are using your entire body to absolute maximum it can go, for either 5-6 minutes in 2000m spring races or 17-20 minutes in 5000m fall races, your brain telling you to stop over and over while coxswain, and the rest of the boat is relying on you to use everything ounce of energy your body can muster.

When all of the boxes are checked, the boat achieves what is called run. It lifts out of the water and goes further and faster than the sum of all the energy the rowers are putting into the water. It is transcendent. It can feel like an out of body experience. The first time it happens the whole boat freaks out and then basically stops in the water as the coach comes over and laughs. Then it's all you think about. Once boats are set, you become as close as brothers and sisters. You form a deep emotional connection. There's no blaming and back-biting when a practice doesn't go well, only support to fix what's wrong and work together to be better.

There is no other sport like rowing.

Shawn - try cinematic mode on your phone next time you video. Then you can choose what is in focus afterwards and do some other stuff.

What’s all these boats got to do with Harry’s upcoming hit piece on the king?

C’mon guys. Back on topic here.

Sheesh.

I was expecting King Chuck's bloody head on a platter....

But I didn't want to be the first person to post something stoopid so I waited my turn ;)

My best friend just finished his 50th year of Head of the Charles.
He's won a medal every year. Haven't heard yet how he did this year.

What kind of boat was he in? Let us know his thoughts when you talk with him. Weather on Saturday was one of the best ever.

The rowing is great to watch but this is the real reason to go to the Head of the Charles, Chowda bread bowls! Pro tip, scrape the insides of the bowl to soak the bread into the chowder. Also bring your own hot sauce, failing that, restaurant black pepper packets.

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Thanks, that is really good to know. Will definitely practice before next year.

In Boy Scouts, I was champion of the quarter mile rowing.:)

Shaun. mY daughter rowed 4 years scholastically here in Philly. Then recruited to Syracuse. unfortunately was injured in 2nd year.. ( intercostal rib muscle detachment..,.. now THATS painful...!!) I had no idea Philly has such a great history of scholastic rowing until she started.. I guess if you look at old Eakins paintings it becomes more clear! Talk about some cold mornings on the river ... Wind whipping down the Schuykil River ( locals call it the "Surekill" ). I remember these wealthy mainline parent types standing around freezing their asses off muttering to themselves " couldn't this girl have picked a sport like basketball... something with a friggin clock ,.. INSIDE!.. " I tell you those hs girls. worked extremely hard at this sport. Those coaches worked them really hard... very impressive to see.... as I recall NONE of them had boyfriends or even a modicum of social lives..... We went to HOTC twice and once to Canadian Henley....

Boathouse row in Philly

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I'm sorry to hear about your daughter Frank, that sounds extremely painful! Hope she's ok now.

We used to row well into November. At 5AM there'd be the thinnest sheet of ice on the surface of parts of the river. It was magical to row through it.

Rowing does take over your life. It's more of a cult than a sport at times. To be great, you have to live it, and you become addicted to wanting to be great. Because anyone can.

We used to run Harvard stadiums until we couldn't move. I am shocked I still have knees running up down those steps. Such great memories.

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West coast style:
Racing Outriggers between the islands in the Molokai channel is more than transcendental and it's not the Charles river.
NO spandex outfits allowed

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