Alum Rowers finish well on the Charles
28 October 2009 Alum Rowers finish well on the Charles
Each year, the Hobart and William Smith Varsity Rowing teams compete in the annual Head of the Charles Regatta on the Charles River in Boston, Mass. This year, both the men and the womens team brought back a boat of alums to relive the glory days and compete in the inaugural Alumni/ae Eight.
The William Smith Alumnae 8, consisting of Virginia Cannon 09, Hannah Gallup 08, Katherine Faherty 09, Jessica Mahon 08, Frances Parsons 06, Rebecca Gutwin 06, Jenn Kirst 08, Jane Detwiler 00, Anne Wakeman 09 placed ninth in their event. This finish secured a guaranteed entry for next year despite having to stop twice on the course to avoid a 5-boat pile-up.
Our alums showed great mettle out thereit was quite chaotic but former All-American coxswain Kenzie Cannon got them through safely and as speedily as possible, says Sandra Chu, Head Coach of William Smith Rowing. The boat rowed well and melding together these alums from the classes of 2000, 2006, 2008, & 2009 was a lot of fun.
Additionally, the Statesmen were able to field an 8 with four captains from the last three years. Powered by Andrew ODonnell 09, John Heavey 09, Ben Ramsey 09, Joe Jameson 07, Paul Wasmund 07, Rob Reinheimer 07, Alex Tye, and Nathan Kress 07, the alumni made it down the three mile course with a time of 16 minutes and 37 seconds, good enough for the sixth fastest in the event. After age adjustments for the Alumni event, the Statesmen ended up with a 10th place finish.
It was really fantastic to have everyone together and get back out on the water, says Kress, who is now teaching at Episcopal High School in Jacksonville, Fla. The weekend was all about having fun, but were all competitors, and well be back out there next year looking for a medal.