Cambridge Heralds Head of the Charles

The nation’s biggest rowing event of the fall, the 37th Head of the Charles Regatta, is coming to the Charles River this weekend, bringing with it hundreds of thousands of competitors and spectators.

The community around the Charles is geared up for the two-day rowing extravaganza, as boats are being set up on the river’s banks and crews prepare to compete.

“It’s a fun regatta, aside from just the racing aspect,” said Harvard lightweight co-captain Patrick Todd. “There are just so many fans. Typically, rowing is not that popular of a sport, so it’s amazing that so many people come [to Head of the Charles].”

And precisely because so many people come to Cambridge for Head of the Charles, the University takes extra security precautions all weekend.

Throughout this weekend, guards will be posted at the entrances to Houses and Harvard Yard to ensure that only students with current Harvard identification and their registered guests are allowed into the dorm areas. In addition, kegs and, in some cases, parties of any kind, are banned this weekend.

“Security is always an issue for this weekend anyway just because of the numbers of people who are here,” Radcliffe heavyweight Coach Liz O’Leary said. “This year, sure, there’s a different feel to what’s happening. Times have changed.”

Times may have changed, but

Head of the Charles has not.

The three-mile headrace begins just before the Boston University bridge and ends just after the Eliot bridge.

The contests begin early Saturday afternoon with the Club events and the Master Doubles. The last events of Saturday are two of the most exciting, as the Charles hosts 75 of the best scullers in the world in the Championship Singles. The top three finishers in the headrace will be invited to race again on Sunday in the Charles Schwab Sprint Challenge on a course that begins just after the River Street Bridge and ends at Weeks foot bridge.

On the men’s side, Xeno Mueller, last year’s runner-up in the Challenge, begins at the front of the pack. Mueller, from Switzerland, was the Olympic single sculls silver medalist in 2000 and the champion in 1996. Lightweight Steve Tucker of Medford, a five-time member of U.S. national teams including the 2000 Olympic team and a local rowing community favorite, starts after Mueller. Norway’s Olaf Tufte is third in starting order, as the 2001 FISA World Rowing Champion and the silver medalist in double sculls in the 2000 Olympic games.

For the women, Ekaterina Karsten from Belarus has the first bow number out of the 30 women in the event. Karsten was the Olympic champion in the single scull in both the 1996 and 2000 games. Karsten showed off her stamina in this year’s World Championships where she won bronze medals in both the single and double sculls competitions, events in which both finals took place within an hour and a half of each other. Massachusetts is well represented in this event—Carol Skricki of Norwood, Mass., and Cindy Bishop of Boston, Mass., follow Karsten in the starting order.

The festivities continue on Sunday, with Harvard and Radcliffe rowers competing in several races.

In the men’s Youth Eight, the Harvard freshman boat has earned the first bow number as the Crimson has won the event in each of the past three years. Yale will follow in the starting order. Brown will start 28th in the event, but is expected to be fast, along with river-rival Northeastern.

For the women, St. Catherine’s Rowing Club holds the first start, followed by the Yale novice boat. The Radcliffe novice boat starts seventh, followed immediately by Brown. St. Catherine’s won the event in 1997 and 1998 and the Black and White took first in 1999.

In the women’s Lightweight Eight, University of Wisconsin, the event’s defending champion, will have the first start, followed by Cambridge’s Riverside Boat Club and Princeton. The Radcliffe boat holds fourth in the starting list. The Black and White lightweights also have a boat racing in the Lightweight Four event, where it will start 10th.

On the men’s end, Yale and Princeton will lead off the race of 20 boats. One Harvard boat will start 10th while another Harvard boat will start fifth under the name of the Charles River Rowing Association.

“Yale will be stiff competition,” Todd said. “Traditionally, we’re not too fast in the fall, but hopefully we’ll be able to change that.”

The championship eight events will cap off the weekend on Sunday afternoon. There is an extraordinary line-up in both the men’s and women’s events.

The U.S. national men’s eight, rowing under USRowing, is the six-time defending champion and has earned the first bow number. Deutscher Ruderverband, the German national team, has the second start. Another top competitor in this event is the Croatian Rowing Federation, the silver medallists in this year’s World Championships.

In the midst of these international gems, Harvard and a few familiar foes will try to hold their own. Northeastern, Brown, Princeton and the University of Wisconsin are all high on the starting list. Harvard has two entries: the heavyweight boat that won the George M. Angle Cup last weekend will start fifth, while another boat composed of sophomores will start 39th under the name of the Charles River Rowing Association.

“It’s going to be a matter of staying ahead of Northeastern, Wisconsin and Princeton,” said Harvard heavyweight captain Wayne Pommen. “There’s going to be a lot of national teams in the event as well, and they’re going to be hard to beat.”

There are 51 entries in the women’s event, with Princeton leading off as last year’s winner over two international crews. Syracuse, Yale, Southern Cal, B.U., Brown and Northeastern will all start near the top of the list and will have to compete with a few international presences. The USRowing boat and the Canadian National Team, under the name of London Training Center, will start 16th and 17th respectively. The Dutch National Team was scheduled to compete but chose not to attend due to travel considerations.

“This weekend is a completely different ball game,” O’Leary said. “And it’s a really fun regatta. You’re racing so many different crews: national teams, club eights, collegiate eights; it’s a very broad spectrum of competitors, which is what makes it fun, but it’s not necessarily about winning. You look at how you do against competitors you race in the spring, but you don’t really expect to beat the Dutch National Team eight. It’s fun to race them because you don’t get to race them any other time.”

Radcliffe has two entries in the event, with the first boat starting 13th and a second boat in 15th.

“It’s really anybody’s race,” captain Michelle Guerette said. “You don’t even know where you stand until you’re done with the race. We’re definitely starting in the back of the pack because of last year and that gives us the opportunity to walk through some boats. Passing boats will [get us fired up], and it should prove to be dramatic under some bridges.”

Renowned Harvard heavyweight coach Harry Parker will be doing more than coaching his crew at this regatta. He is also an entry in the Veteran Singles event. Parker won fourth last year and is eighth in the starting order this year. John Landon, an unaffiliated competitor rowing in this event for the first time, has the first bow number.

A regatta so early in the year gives Radcliffe and Harvard an opportunity to gage themselves against some of the rivals they will face again.

“It’s the first test of the year to see where we measure up in long distance races,” said Harvard lightweight co-captain Joe Finelli. “It’s been a long summer. It’s impossible not to look forward to it.”