Race Recaps
Head Of The Cuyahoga
The Women’s Varsity 8 finished 2nd behind Western Reserve with a time of 20:11.8. Although the set was rocky and the boat faced numerous difficulties that come with the first regatta of the season, they finished in a place they were proud of.
The Mens Varsity 8 finished 4th behind MSU with a time of 17:12.4. Medaling is a very achievable goal for the eight, which kicks the season off to an exciting start.
Waking up early is no foreign concept to members of the Ohio State Crew Team, and as the team departed at 5am on September 17th to make the 2.5 hour drive to Cleveland, that concept stood true.
Head of the Cuyahoga is a regatta that takes place yearly in Cleveland, OH and is one of the top ten largest, single-day head races in the country. The 5k course is infamous for its constant turns which makes an experienced coxswain and focused rowers imperative to a boat’s success. On wrong turn and a boat could easily find itself on the wrong side of the river, its line completely skewed.
Ohio State entered in 6 events, a Women’s V8, Men’s V8, three Men’s V4+, and a Men’s N4+.
Double racing on a winding course such as the Cuyahoga, and on a day where temperatures were in the 90s, proved to be a grueling feat, but OSU came out with 2 medals and places in the top 10 in the other events.
The Mens Novice 4 finished 2nd behind Marietta College with a time of 18:56.3. With having rowed only a week together in their line up, the novice 4 started the season out with a bang.
The Mens Varsity 4’s finished 6th, 12th and 14th with times of 19:03.2, 20:20.3 and 20:43.6. Nearly every single one of these men double raced in the high temperatures, and we are incredibly proud with how they did.
After driving back to Columbus and arriving at 10 at night, the day was officially finished. We are incredibly proud of how our athletes did.
It is no secret that Ohio State Crew has faced struggles in the past, but this regatta marked the beginning of an eventful and promising season of growth and friendship. Our new head coach, James Malebranche, and assistant coaches Tim Binnig and Ben Coffey, have worked around the clock to get these boats ready to race. It is easy to overlook the amount of time coaches put into teams and just focus on how fast or well certain boats did, but we cannot forget to highlight how dedicated our coaches are to the team’s success.
Additionally, our team would not have been properly fueled for this regatta without the help of the OSU Crew Parent’s Club, who donated food for our tent.
Cuyahoga kicked off the season and we are excited to see where we row.