The Wellesley Blue competed this past weekend in The 55th annual Head of the Charles Regatta at the Charles River in Boston. The HOCR is a Boston tradition which welcomes the world’s best crew teams each year. Over 11,000 athletes take part in the competition, and tens of thousands of spectators attend. The event is put on by the HOCR Board of Directors with immense help from volunteers and staff. The HOCR consists of many different events separated by men’s/women’s as well as by age and boat type. 

This year, Wellesley College entered three boats into the competition. This is one more boat than usual, as they entered a brand new boat this year, which was christened at the Wellesley College’s Friend’s and Family Athlete Dinner this past Friday. Two of the Blue’s boats raced in the Collegiate Women’s Eights. The Varsity Eight Crew placed 2nd with a time of 16:26.595, recording the best finish the program has ever had in the event. The Blue only fell short to defending national champion Bates College. The second Varsity Eight crew finished in 20th place with a time of 17:45.617. Crew boat member Julianna Wright `22 says that, “It was a huge victory for crew. We’ve never placed that high before. It really just demonstrates how special this team is.” It is evident that camaraderie within the team plays a vital role in this victory. Those who were not immediately competing stood on the sidelines, cheering their teammates to victory.

The Wellesley Varsity Four competed in the Women’s Collegiate Fours event where they took 17th place with a time of 19:25.961. 

This marks a very strong beginning for the Wellesley Blue Crew Team this year. With their rigorous practice schedule and intense races, Crew always has to stay in shape. Varsity typically practices at 4:45 every morning, either visiting the ergs or heading out to the Charles River. Novice crew practices later in the morning, around 7:30 am, but by second semester, they will be on the same practice schedule as the varsity team. So far, Crew has had only one other race at the Indian Well State Park, where they placed 10th out of 30 teams. However, with their fantastic victory at the Charles River this weekend, the Blue’s season ahead looks very good.

Wellesley Blue Lineup from the Weekend

Women’s Collegiate Eights

Wellesley College (A) Bow 10 – C – Sooji Kang; 8 – Rhiannon Mulligan; 7 – Katie Ball; 6 – Frances Dingivan; 5 – Anneka Hallstrom; 4 – Faye Washburn; 3 – Alanna Uthgennant; 2 – Maria Iannotti; 1 – Meg Bolan

Wellesley College (B) Bow 15 – C: Vanessa Delarca; 8 – Amelia Lee; 7 – Zoe Cheng; 6 – Gaya Krishna; 5 – Eleanor Antezana; 4 –  Olivia Gorman  ; 3 – Olivia Holbrook; 2 – Alison Carey; 1 – Julianna Wright

Women’s Collegiate Fours

Wellesley College (A) Bow 35 – C – Isabella Santos; 4 – Emma Anghel; 3 – Stephanie Fan; 2 – Beatrice Grauman-Boss; 1- Mar Barrera

A previous version of this article misstated the name of the event. Updated 11/1/2019