In the rowing team's first regatta of the season, what began as a tune-up event turned into quite a hardware haul. The Polar Bears, led by senior captains Morgan Andersen and Caroline Ciocca, traveled to Lowell, Mass. for the Textile River Regatta and won medals in five of six events entered.
Bowdoin raced 10 boats, including two novice and two varsity four boats for both the men and women. The team also entered a men's double, which raced to a bronze medal, and a men's single—rowed by James Henry '13—who took the gold in the recreational single division after only one week of rowing experience in the boat.
Out of 27 competitors, the men's varsity four boat took second place behind the elite Merrimack Rowing Club—and first among college entries—while finishing a comfortable 21 seconds ahead of NESCAC foe Colby. The second men's four boat also cracked the top half of the field, taking 11th.
On the women's side, the first four boat took bronze and the second finished one spot behind in the 26-boat field. The novice women's fours finished second and fifth, while the novice men came in at fourth and eighth.
"This was our best finish at the regatta in years," Coach Gil Birney said of the races. These results are especially promising because the fall season is focused on developing the team and teaching novice walk-ons, he explained.
The Polar Bears will continue the grueling 6K time trial format for the final two regattas of the fall season.
Coach Birney noted the rowers' assiduous work ethic and intense training regime of 6 a.m. practices, and said the team hopes to win the upcoming Quinsigamond Snake Regatta in Worcester, Mass., tomorrow.
A victory will not come easily, as both the men and women will face NESCAC powerhouses Amherst, Colby, Bates, Connecticut College, and Tufts.
Though both squads have their minds set on winning in Worcester, these two races are just appetizers for the immense Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston next weekend.
-Compiled by Clare McLaughlin.