Rowing Competes at World's Largest Regatta
10/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
A week after its first competition as a varsity program, the Alabama Rowing team will face some of the best programs in the nation in the biggest regatta in the world at the Head of the Charles this weekend.
The Crimson Tide had the good and unusual fortune to get two boats into the internationally renowned competition held annually on the Charles River. Over 500,000 spectators are expected during the weekend of competition.
"It's highly unusual for a young program to get two boats into this regatta," Alabama head coach Larry Davis said. "Usually you get one in and then maybe you get a second in through the lottery. I don't know if it was just good fortune in our case or if they might have decided to give a new program the opportunity to show what they can do. Either way, I was very pleased that we got two in and I think it will give us some very good experience."
The crew of Katie Allaway, Rachel Justiss, Erin Linsin, Cristin Liveoak, Rebecca Moore, Kelly Parker, Laura Stumbo and Kathryn Tippey along with coxswain Stephanie Rainey will compete on Saturday. The Tide's second boat, made up of Sarah Beaver, Bryn Crawford, Victoria Croy, McKenna Frease, Leigh Ann Lazarus, Marley McKenzie, Jennifer Rankin, Margaret Strojny and coxswain Caitlin Bonner, will race on Sunday.
This will be the 42nd Head of the Charles Regatta, held annually on the Charles River, which separates Boston, Massachusetts from Cambridge. With 7500 athletes, it is the largest rowing regatta in the world. The course is approximately three miles long.
"Competing at this level as a first year program gives us the opportunity to go up against some of the nation's very best, programs that have been in the top-6 at the NCAA Championships the last four, five, six years," Davis said. "We'll have the chance this weekend to race against teams from all over the country that a new program wouldn't necessarily get to go head-to-head with."
The benefits to racing in the world's premiere rowing event for the Crimson Tide are immeasurable in Davis' eyes.
"In order to race like a champion, you have to race against the best and that's what we're doing this weekend," Davis said. "The first time you go up against the kind of talent we'll see this weekend, you might get a little intimidated and you might not race the way you want to. The only way to get over that intimidation is to face the best and learn from the experience."
Alabama competed for the first time as a varsity program last weekend at the Chattanooga Head Race and came away with a pair of bronze medals.
