An ocean away from the school’s boathouse on the familiar Charles River, nine members of the Upper School (US) Girls’ Varsity Crew team launched their boat into England’s River Thames to compete in the Women’s Henley Royal Regatta.
With races throughout the first four days of July, the Henley Regatta is an enormous event; this year, 722 boats registered to compete, a record high in the regatta’s 185-year history.
Girls’ Varsity Crew Coach John Cotter explained that the girls’ participation in the regatta was distinct from the school rowing season and required additional training. The logistics of the trip were also complicated, so every spot in the team’s boat was selected after careful consideration, Coach Cotter said.
“The qualification on our side is that we have a team worthy of all that effort.”
A collision with a tightly- spaced barrier prevented the girls’ boat from advancing in the competition by a single second. Although the team had hoped for a different result, their showing at the regatta was tremendous, according to Coach Cotter.
“[The Henley Women’s Regatta] was probably the most competitive situation any team from BB&N could be involved in,” he said. “BB&N teams usually don’t compete outside of the [Independent School League], and they certainly don’t compete with teams outside of the country.”
Coach Cotter said the team competed against professionals in the regatta, including women who narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympics this year.
Susanna Barouch ’25, a rower on the trip, described the team’s preparation as “intense.” In the days before the race, the team practiced on the River Thames to learn the course, she said.
Before the team landed in England, they practiced on the Charles River, every morning after the school year had ended. Lucy Forman ’25, a member of the boat, said that the team put in the effort to compete.
“We were all willing to practice,” she said. “We were all willing to get up at 5 or 6 a.m. We were all willing to do morning practices in the blistering heat even after school happened. As for everyone who was selected to go—it just spoke to all of our hard work that we were able to get there.”
Lucy said that the coaches worked with the Athletic Department to ensure safe rowing conditions during their practices.
“The practice times were a little inconvenient, but because of boat traffic at that time of year and the heat wave, it would be dangerous if we went later. Our coaches had to jump through a lot of hoops to make sure that we were allowed out in the mornings.”
Lucy wasn’t fond of rowing when she started in her freshman year but said the team’s atmosphere changed her perspective.
“I started to fall in love with the camaraderie of the team. Crew is the most team sport you can get, and I really like that.”
Alexia Gerogiannis ’25, another rower, agreed. For her, bonding with her teammates was an important part of the experience.
“I had never been on a school trip before, so it was great getting to travel with other BB&N students,” she said. “We had practiced a lot and really gotten close as a team and as a boat, and it was cool getting to see rowing on such a large scale with some of my closest friends.”
She said the pressure of racing in the regatta was unlike typical crew races.
“It was obviously scary, because we had never gone to such a big race before, and there were a lot of really accomplished rowers there. I’ve done Head of the Charles before, but this was a whole new thing. It was stressful but really cool.”
Alexia’s experience attending an international event where everyone shared a common interest was fulfilling, she said.
“We saw so many rowers. Everyone was there because they liked rowing. It was cool that we had our little BB&N community inside of a larger rowing community.”
