Rowers Make Waves in First Rowing Regatta

By Emily Magnus, Assistant Director of Communications

“Are you sure you want to go out in this? Do you have enough clothes?” Head Rowing Coach Tuffer Dow said, looking at me skeptically from the stern of his launch. I nodded, showing him my layers of fleece and Gore-Tex. Weather reports were predicting wind speeds would reach 20 mph and gusts 30 mph throughout the afternoon; Canaan Street Lake would be rough, but I was determined to photograph Cardigan’s first official rowing competition. Tossing my camera bag into Coach’s boat, I pushed the stern away from the dock.

The first boat out was a JV team that included Coxswain Allen Zhang ’26, Harry Xu ’28, Yuha Nishida ’26, June Kim ’27, and Logan Shainker ’28. In the shelter of Cardigan’s point, the weather looked favorable, kicking up just a ripple on the surface of the lake that the boys sliced easily through. Encouraged, I stood in the motorboat and snapped photos, framing their boat against the distant mountains and the fall foliage. I even began to wonder if my fleece hat would be necessary.

But as the Cardigan campus grew smaller and the boys rowed out into the open water, the ripples became waves. White caps began to form and barreled down the length of the lake, building in height as they moved from north to south. Despite their rigorous warmup, the boys shivered in their seats, rounding their shoulders against the wind. The weather report hadn’t gotten it wrong after all, I thought as I pulled my hat back down over my ears.

“We have had unbelievably perfect weather all fall,” bemoaned Coach Dow. “The boys aren’t used to these conditions.”

As they drew close to the start, the boys turned their boat to line up with the buoys, steering parallel to the waves and putting the boat in danger of capsizing. Coach Dow shouted directions through a bullhorn, but it was unclear if the boys could even hear him; the crashing waves, the brisk wind, and the motorboat engine built a cacophony against his voice. Waves crashed into the starboard hull, sending a cold spray into the boys’ faces and pushing the scull further down the lake and away from the start. 

I put down my camera and gripped the gunnels of the motorboat, ready to pull boys from the water if necessary. Minutes seemed like hours.
But as I watched, it became clear that the boys weren’t in danger. With slow and deliberate strokes, they turned their boat and headed back into the wind, seemingly unphazed by the roiling whitewater surrounding them. By the time they reached the buoys marking the start, they were pulling in sync. And with a blast of the start horn, they moved as one, slicing through the wind and waves, suddenly aerodynamic and unstoppable despite the conditions.

I watched this scene play out three times in three different heats of Cardigan athletes. Each time the boys, by this time dressed in winter hats and long sleeves, looked like they might capsize, but each time they deftly and calmly handled their boats. 

And as they drew close to Cardigan’s waterfront, the voices of their classmates cut through the wind and gave the boys the boost they needed to finish strong. Their arrival at the dock was truly a celebration, and while I shivered for them as they lifted their boats over their heads and let cascades of cold lake water shower over them, they just grinned and laughed. They had known all along that which I had not; as our school-wide theme for this year states clearly, Practice is Purpose.

Congratulations to these Cougar teams and their coaches for their outstanding finishes in the first Cardigan regatta.

Time Trial (1250-meter)
Boat 3 –– 8:24
Coxswain Allen Zhang ’26, Harry Xu ’28, Yuha Nishida ’26, June Kim ’27, Logan Shainker ’28

Race 1 (shortened to 1000 meters due to wind)
Boat 1 (CMS) – 4:04 
Coxswain: Xavier Villegas ’26, Mac Navins ’26, Sunny Xia ’26, Rapheal Kim ’26, Caleb Clough ’26
Boat 2 (CMS) – 4:23 
Coxswain Poon Promphan ’27, Sam Jiao ’26, Henny Price ’27, Emmett Rand ’26, Eason Gu ’26)
Boat 3 (NMH) – 4:46

Race 2 (also shortened to 1000 meters)
Boat 1 (CMS) – 4:10 
Coxswain Bob Zou ’27, Seonho Lee ’27, Henry Moskowitz ’26, Tom Andrews ’29, Cayden LeRoy ’27
Boat 2 (CMS) – 4:14 
Coxswain James Harris ’28, William Zhu ’26, Derek Zhou ’27, Bo Pepper ’29, Benjamin Ficek ’27
Boat 3 (NMH) – 4:55