For two days, rowers and spectators from all over the world congregated on the Charles River in Boston, stopping traffic and literally making waves.
An event that engenders both national and international support, the Head of the Charles hosts some of the greatest rowers from across the nation and world.
"It is the centerpiece of the fall season without question," coach Gary Caldwell said. "It's about being a part of Boston's second largest event, only second to the Boston Marathon, and to be a part of that is a big deal to the student-athletes."
"It's a huge event that brings rowers of all ages from all around the world together," senior coxswain Suzanne Horwitz added. "It's a very unique sport, and it's great to see people come together to celebrate such athleticism. There's an energy and an intensity and a drive to succeed that is contagious."
While Saturday featured a powerful headwind that made rowing a lot harder and the duration of the race much longer, the weather cleared on Sunday, making for a much smoother ride.
The second day featured Tufts' first and second varsity boats, with each racing in the Collegiate Eights. The first varsity boat finished 16th out of a field of 58, in 18:01.252, 56 seconds behind first-place Yale, which finished with a time of 17:05.343.
The second varsity boat, known as the Mystic Valley Rowing Association, finished 46th with a time of 19:07.579. Racing against some of the best squads in the nation, Tufts ultimately finished behind Williams, Coast Guard, Bates and Colby. Such competition will serve as a gauge for the team as it heads into the offseason.
"Now we know how much we need to make up to be competitive for the spring season," senior co-captain Airla Esworthy said "We also beat Trinity and Smith, who are our biggest competitors, so we were very excited about that."
"Looking at the crews we'll be racing in the spring, it's a pretty tight mix between the team that finished first and fifth," Caldwell added.
On Saturday, Tufts' third varsity eight, also registered as the Mystic Valley Rowing Association, finished 43rd out of 52 teams in the 14th event of the day with a time of 21:34.521, while the varsity four finished
20th out of 29 boats with a time of 23:04.396.
It was the first time that these rowers had ever rowed together, with freshman Erica Udow acting as the coxswain, and sophomores Marieke Kester and Meredith Forbes, freshman Lauren Lanster, and senior Morgan Glasebrook rounding out seats one through four.
Aside from the wind, the race course itself presented a considerable challenge.
"The Head of the Charles has a lot of very sharp turns," Esworthy said. "It's hard for the coxswain, who has to prepare us for every single sharp turn, and especially when it gets crowded and you have to cross other boats. You have to focus on your own boat and who's around you and make sure you don't go off course. [Horwitz] prepared us for every turn we took as far as our race time, and she definitely saved us a couple of seconds."
Despite finishing 16th, Horwitz said the team was keen on sending a message to rival school Smith in the race.
"I was in the first boat, and we started directly in front of Smith," Horwitz said. "We have a little rivalry with them, so we made it a point to put them far behind us. Early in the race it was clear that they weren't going to be able to catch us."
Overcoming the difficult course, it was the squad's tenacity that helped it finish as high as it did in the race. Senior Kristine Shoemaker pushed the team from the fifth seat to the stroke.
"I think both boats rowed very aggressively, while last year we were more passive-aggressive," Caldwell said.
"[Shoemaker's] a big powerful woman, and putting her in the stroke seat has probably changed the aggressive nature of what we're doing," Caldwell continued. "She has gotten fitter, has gotten older, and we can use this powerful nature she has in the stroke seat instead of the middle of the boat. It challenged everyone else to keep up with her if you can and the kids have responded well to that."
