Photo courtesy of Fordham Athletics
The women’s Varsity 8 placed first among collegiate crews and second overall at the 46th annual Head of the Charles.
The regatta, which was held on Oct. 23 and 24, is one of the top rowing competitions in the world, and is attended by 8,000 athletes and 300,000 spectators each year.
The Rams finished with a time of 17:51.696, which was about 10 seconds behind Boston’s Riverside Boat Club and just more than 12 seconds faster than Yale University, which finished third. It was the best finish in Varsity 8 history.
The Fordham 8 also finished about 44 seconds in front of two boats from the University of Connecticut (fifth and sixth place), Radcliffe (eighth place), the University of Alabama (ninth place), Holy Cross (16th place) and Boston College (25th place).
The Rams also entered boats in the Champ 4 and Club 4 events. Fordham’s Club 4 boat finished 12th in a field of 51 competitors, which guarantees an automatic entry into next year’s race. It was the fourth-fastest collegiate boat in the event, behind Saint Mary’s (second place), Villanova (10th place) and Boston College (11th place).
Co-captain Katie Helmer said that the women in her boat were “incredibly excited to be part of a crew that medaled at the Head of the Charles. The Charles is one of the biggest and most competitive regattas in the world; medaling is a fantastic accomplishment.”
“Riverside had been pushing us down the course the entire time, and had gained water on us,” co-captain Alyssa Sunofsky said. “As we walked through four boats, Riverside walked right with us all the way to the finish.
“As we walked back to the trailer, everyone was cheering and Ted told us we got second and said we were the top college 8 in our event,” she continued. “We were all thrilled.”
