On Sunday, the Medford High Rowing Team traveled to Pembroke, NH to participate in The New Hampshire Championships George Dirth Memorial Regatta (NHCR). The NHCR is the largest New England rowing event north of Boston. The regatta is a 3-mile head race which attracts over 2,000 athletes rowing nearly 400 sculling and sweep boats. This week, the rowing team entered the usual races, three Boys Varsity Fours and a Girls Double. For the first time this year, they also entered a Boys Novice Eight and a Coxed Quad.
The day started off with the first Boys Varsity Four rowing against 23 other boats. They finished the race with a time of 18:49.
According to senior oarsman, Theodore Norton, “the waters were extremely choppy, but we were able to row our best race of the season.”
Theo and the team placed 6th out of all the other Massachusetts Public Schools (MPSRA). The second Boys Varsity Four finished less than a minute later with a time of 19:39, placing them 5th against the other MPSRA second Varsity Boys boats.
Up next was the Boys Novice boat. Competing for the first time as a full team, the Boys Novice team entered an eight. The goal for the boys was to gain the experience needed to function as a unit. Although they finished 23rd out of 24 boats, they finished 6th against other MPSRA (public school) teams. After a short break, the first Boys Varsity Four switched boats and raced as a Varsity Quad. They came in 8th with almost the identical time from their morning race of 18:35.
The final two boats were the Boys Third Varsity Four and the Girls Double.
In their final race before competing in the Head of the Charles, the third Varsity Four boat competed against 26 other boats finishing in 14th place with a time of 18:34. This 14th place showing was against the A boats in that race (that is, mostly 2nd varsity boats). They beat all MPSRA 3rd Varsity boats and finished second in the B boats. This third Boys Varsity boat will compete in the Head of the Charles Regatta this Sunday, October 22 in Cambridge.
Without a novice division, the Girls Novice Double had to race against 20 varsity boats. With a time of 21:13, they placed 15th, less than a minute from being in the top 10!
The team had a really good week of practice, and will try to build upon this past week's success as they have a two week break leading up to the last race of the season, the MPSRA Fall State Championship.
NOTE: If you would like to view professional photos taken at the NH Championships, please go here and if you'd like to purchase photos, they will be available for 30% discount through October 22, 2023 (coupon code = Regatta23).