‘One of a Kind in the World’: The Head of the Charles High School Experience

We all know the Head of the Charles as one of the pinnacle events of college rowing, and the best-known boat race this side of the Atlantic Ocean. But on Sunday morning, when everyone is preparing for the finals in the afternoon, the best high school rowers in the country will be navigating the twists and turns of the difficult Charles River course.

Similarly to the fall off-season for college crew teams, the fall schedule for high school crews revolves around the HOCR. The lead-up to the historic race begins in August,with pre-season training.

“We train six times per week for about two-and-a-half hours per day,” noted Marko Serafimovski, the Head Coach of RowAmerica Rye, one of the high school programs competing this weekend.

In the lead-up to racing, crews must select which rowers will compete in which boats. Each team is allocated a certain number of slots in the race based on their performance in the previous year’s HOCR, and must go through a series of tests to ensure they are putting their fastest team forward.

These tests are typically quite rigorous and see a massive shuffling between different crews. The tests are known as seat races, which is when one rower at a time is swapped out of a boat, and times are subsequently measured to see how big of an impact the swapped-out rower has on the boat. This process can create a cutthroat nature within a team because the tests can completely alter the order of a boat.

“It does make it very competitive within our team,” added Serafimovski, but speed trumps all. Especially when the stakes are so high.

As the big day approaches, crews go to other, smaller regattas to practice. On Oct. 13, hordes of high schoolers descend on the Head of the Housatonic regatta in Shelton, Conn, which is raced as the final tune-up before the Head of the Charles. Boats launch out of Indian Wells State Park, about half an hour away from any sizable city, allowing the rowers to focus solely on honing their craft.

The luxury of a quiet course will not be afforded to the rowers at the HOCR, where hundreds of thousands of spectators will line the river to cheer them on. The total audience on hand at the Head of the Housatonic numbers somewhere in the low four digits, making the nerves much easier for the high schoolers to manage, as the majority of the spectators are related to the athletes on the water, or coaches to support the crews.

That's the standard formula for a high school regatta. Sometimes the larger ones will have some food trucks and a dedicated viewing area. Some of the smaller races require viewers to pick through woods on the side of the water to find a spot to watch the boats go by. It’s peaceful and quiet, the serenity of nature interrupted only by intermittent cheering whenever a fan favorite goes by.

Compare that to the environment in Cambridge, along the banks of the iconic Charles River. Over 400,000 attendees stream in over three days. Every single inch of riverfront viewing is packed. All six bridges over the water are lined with a row, and sometimes several rows, of spectators cheering for the rowers as they pass underneath. There’s no question that Head of the Charles is full of a special kind of energy.

“I don’t think it can be compared to anything else,” Serafimovski said. The race is “one of a kind in the world,” the coach added.

Especially in the fall season, there's no other race that means as much as Head of the Charles. It functions as a championship level race, attracting the best crews from across the nation, as well as internationally. High school kids from Boston, who train every day on the river, will be competing against Brazilians, Slovakians, South Africans, and Americans from nearly every state.

“I find a large crowd only adds to the moment,” said Isaac Rabinowitz, a junior high school rower for RowAmerica Rye. “It means a lot because it's an opportunity to show off your speed and see both domestic and foreign teams competing at the highest level.”

The race presents unique challenges that can be especially tough for less experienced crews. In an average race, coxswains are solely responsible for keeping the boat within its lane, and counting the pace of the strokes. But on the Charles, making tight turns may not guarantee a win, but it sure can ensure a loss. Countless rudders have been snagged on sunken logs, essentially forcing the boat to travel straight or not move at all. And the course is anything but straight, with hairpins under bridges and long, gentle curves requiring constant attention.

Paying special attention to the turns is necessary because crashing into the bridges can not only damage the boats, but cause serious injury for the rowers smashing into the concrete.

“Our coxswain spends countless hours studying, and analyzing the course so he or she can steer the best possible race, which is such a huge factor at a race like The Head of the Charles,” notes George Dolce, another athlete at RowAmerica Rye. “With a good coxswain a crew does not necessarily need to be the strongest to win the event.”

Despite all the eyes being on the course this weekend, the high school racing is often overshadowed by the flashier college races, and more established masters rowing. The teams might get lost in the hustle and bustle of the racecourse surrounded by other elite athletes. However, this provides an opportunity for the high schoolers to immerse themselves in the world of rowing.

The lack of a devoted audience doesn’t take away from their drive to succeed, it just means that it comes from within. Boats are numbered based on where they finished in the race the year before, which provides a tangible reminder of the standards that have been set.

“If we start with a bow number one, our goal is to keep it, and an enormous amount of stress comes with it,” Serafimovski explained. According to Dolce, the pressure “electrifies the whole feeling of racing.”

At RowAmerica Rye in particular, the standards couldn’t be higher. In the club’s 10-year history, the boys 8+ boat has won the Head of the Charles twice, and the girls 8+ has won it three times, including the last two years. However, Serafimovski believes that rowing and youth sports in general is about far more than winning.

“The most difficult part on our end is to have these young people believe that they can give more than what they think they are capable of,” the sage coach stated. “Helping them exceed their own limits opens a new horizon for these kids.”

The potentialities opened up for the future are the most special part of the high school races at the Head of the Charles. Athletes are pushed beyond their limits, with supportive crowds cheering them on at every moment. They are enveloped by the history of the river, the race, and the chance to etch their boats into the history books.

—Staff writer Daniel Hochberg can be reached at daniel.hochberg@thecrimson.com.