Ridgewood Crew Competes in one of the the World’s Largest Regattas

Sam Boogaert storming down the racecourse in a single – Photo by Mark Riedel

the staff the Ridgewood blog

Boston MA, the Head of the Charles Regatta, also known as the world’s largest three-day regatta, attracted 619 clubs, 2,231 boats, thousands of spectators, and over 11,000 rowers this year. This regatta brings together a wide range of athletes with high school teams, collegiate teams, club teams, and even Olympians racing. Ridgewood Crew was incredibly lucky to have four of their boats accepted this year: the Women’s Youth Single, Men’s Youth Single, Women’s Youth Double, and Men’s Youth Double. These six athletes competed in events against some of the finest racers in the United States and Canada. In some of these events, our rowers were up against over 50 other boats. 

The infamous 4800 meter course features seven different bridges and a number of difficult turns. It stretches from Boston University’s DeWolfe Boathouse to Northeastern’s University’s Henderson Boathouse. Not only do rowers need to be fit to race here, but they must have excellent navigational abilities. Every year, this race brings with it crashes, collisions, and many close calls. In preparation for their races, rowers studied the course for days in advance using videos and maps.

Off the water, our rowers were lucky enough to meet multiple Olympians; one of these rowers, Molly Reckford, was formerly taught by Coach Boris Roque. This summer, she raced in the women’s lightweight double at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.