Novice Regatta / Varsity Round Robin Regatta

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BHS Crew tent and rowers' gear women's four+ wear medals women's eight on the water
Photos courtesy of Eric Carlson

Traditionally, the Novice Regatta marks not only the beginning of the racing season, but the beginning of rowing careers. The event, hosted by the Pacific Rowing Club at Lake Merced in San Francisco, attracts teams from San Diego, Newport, Marina (LA), and Humboldt Bay, as well as clubs from Sacramento, the Delta, and the Bay Area. Saturday, after a winter of erging and limited water practice, the BHS Crew novices went oar to oar against their peers in fierce and exciting competition over a 1500 meter course.

BHS rowers put in some strong performances. The women's freshman 4+ and the men's novice 4+ B boats each rowed to decisive second place finishes in their final heats, boatlengths ahead of the rest of the pack. Other boats found themselves in duels at the end of their heats. The women's novice 8+ B boat edged Los Gatos for 4th place in their final by three seconds. The women's freshman 8+ tangled for third with Newport and the Pacific Rowing Club (PRC) before finishing just 2.7 seconds behind fourth-place PRC. The men's novice 8+ A boat fell just 1.2 seconds short of fourth-place Los Gatos. Most importantly, in their first real racing experience, our novice rowers learned what racing is all about - when to eat (and when not), getting boats rigged and on the water, getting to the start on time, making it straight down the course, and then, after minutes of sprinting, reaching deep for the stamina and strength to make time against the other boats as they near the finish line - it ain't easy!

Eric Carlson's Novice Regatta photo gallery at SmugMug.com
Saturday's novice results from row2k.com...

On Sunday, the varsity rowed against Saint Ignatius High School and rowing clubs from Marin, Los Gatos, Stanford, River City, Capital, Pacific (host), San Diego, Marina, Newport and Humboldt Bay. The conditions were, officially, "wet, just plain wet." The rowers braved the weather (as did a good number of parents!) and turned in a number of fine performances. The women's lightweight 4+ gave Stanford a run for first place, falling by just four seconds. The men's lightweight 4+ took a strong second. At the end of the afternoon, the men's varsity 4+ took second in their heat, rowing with long, sweeping strokes that portend good things for the future. Two of the guys in that boat then jumped into seats with the lightweight 8+ for their third race of the day, finishing an impressive fourth, never far from the leaders.

Sunday's varsity results, from row.2k.com...

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