A Crew-Cial start to the season
by marykatemunley'17
On Sunday September 13, the Bedford High School Crew team started their fall 2015 season off with a bang at the Concord Regatta. With a mixed lineup women’s eight taking home a first place trophy, varsity men’s four placing second and a men’s eight taking third, overall the eleven boats that raced all did well.
The Concord Regatta is a warm up race for many of the teams in the area such as Concord and Central High Schools, some of Bedford’s biggest competition on the water. Many of the teams race in mixed lineups, in boats with both novice and varsity, as a way to introduce the novice rowers to what it will be like at more serious races.
For many of the novice rowers it was their very first race. It is hard to anticipate what it will be like during a race but, the varsity rowers did their best to share their knowledge. There is always a shared nervousness at the beginning of a season, even for the varsity rowers, many of whom hadn’t raced a 5000 meter race since the previous fall.
The girl’s eight, coxed by Allie Pratt, rowed in the S.S.Minnow, a boat typically used by the men’s team. This only added to the nerves of the eight girls.
“We were in the heaviest boat so we were expecting it to feel heavy during the race, but it felt really powerful!” Allie Pratt said about the race.
Both varsity and novice were thrilled, to say the least, when they saw the results. The Women’s team weren’t the only one’s to win for Bedford. The bow coxed four placed second, helping to prove that once again Bedford Crew is a force to be reckoned with. The boat’s stroke seat, Jake Catania, said it felt like they were flying down the race course.
As with any first race of the season there are always things that could go better. Stay on the lookout because according to Jake Catania and Silas Johnson, we should expect to see this lineup row again. With a men’s four entered in Head of The Charles, it could be in the cards for this dynamic lineup.
Sam Anderson, a varsity rower, summed up the regatta by saying “We really started on a good note. We’ve set the bar really high and the whole team is going to have to work hard to stay there.”
The Concord Regatta is a warm up race for many of the teams in the area such as Concord and Central High Schools, some of Bedford’s biggest competition on the water. Many of the teams race in mixed lineups, in boats with both novice and varsity, as a way to introduce the novice rowers to what it will be like at more serious races.
For many of the novice rowers it was their very first race. It is hard to anticipate what it will be like during a race but, the varsity rowers did their best to share their knowledge. There is always a shared nervousness at the beginning of a season, even for the varsity rowers, many of whom hadn’t raced a 5000 meter race since the previous fall.
The girl’s eight, coxed by Allie Pratt, rowed in the S.S.Minnow, a boat typically used by the men’s team. This only added to the nerves of the eight girls.
“We were in the heaviest boat so we were expecting it to feel heavy during the race, but it felt really powerful!” Allie Pratt said about the race.
Both varsity and novice were thrilled, to say the least, when they saw the results. The Women’s team weren’t the only one’s to win for Bedford. The bow coxed four placed second, helping to prove that once again Bedford Crew is a force to be reckoned with. The boat’s stroke seat, Jake Catania, said it felt like they were flying down the race course.
As with any first race of the season there are always things that could go better. Stay on the lookout because according to Jake Catania and Silas Johnson, we should expect to see this lineup row again. With a men’s four entered in Head of The Charles, it could be in the cards for this dynamic lineup.
Sam Anderson, a varsity rower, summed up the regatta by saying “We really started on a good note. We’ve set the bar really high and the whole team is going to have to work hard to stay there.”