The two-day Head of the Schuylkill was graced with stunning weather and conditions last weekend, and rowers and teams made the best of it, taking the opportunity to bag multiple medals for their squads.
We saw a few crews near and at the top of the results lists that we don't always see, so we reached out to get their impressions of their races, to ask how it came together, and to ask if the glow of winning remains a few days after the racing. Brunswick School had fully three wins on the weekend, in the junior men's single, coxed four, and frosh/novice coxed four- with single sculler Sam Subramaniam posting a rare double on the weekend.
Brunswick junior men's single sculler Subramaniam took the win in the Jim Barker Mens High School Single less than a day after winning the Hoffman Challenge over on the Cooper River the day before. Subramaniam was all business by the time racing came around on Sunday though, even as he caught up to and passed crews in the preceding event (coxed fours!) to win on the Schuylkill on Sunday morning.
"During the race, I was focused on consistency," he said "I stuck to my rate and target split for the middle 3k, besides a couple of tens to pass some boats from the prior event.
"It was great to find out I had won. Having come second last year, I was determined to get a gold medal this year."
The Junior Men's Four from Brunswick School took their event, although it took a little while for the result to be made official due to some timing glitches; the crew had to wait a bit for confirmation, but ultimately collected the win and the coveted (and sizeable) HOSR medals. The same lineup had placed second in the same event at the Head Of The Charles the previous weekend, and won the Head of the Housatonic on October 8.
"Due to the unusual circumstances with the results, we got to pick up the medals at school the next day from our coach," stroke seat Henry Arden said, "but those medals are legit! I am proudly hanging mine up in my room."
The HOSR course, usually right around four kilometers/2.5 miles, was slightly shorter at both ends this year due to the ongoing dredging on the river; a couple data hounds clocked it at around 3875-ish meters on various GPS-enabled devices. The Brunswick crew was aware of the shorter distance as compared to other head races, said two-seat Ruffin Bryant.
""We knew the HOSR was shorter than other head races, so we wanted to attack it from the start," he said. On tactics, they kept it simple: "We focused on our breathing and just pushing the legs down with each stroke. "
Three-seat Jimmy Cabot noted that the crew had little time to celebrate on the day, so the day's wait may have worked out fine.
"Our 4+ doubled up and raced the 8+ later that day, so there wasn't a lot of celebrating, as we needed to lock in for that," he said. "We were very happy with our performance in the race, and think it was our best race this season."
Bow seat and team captain Campbell Officer summed it up: "I was super proud of our team's showing as we had almost 40 guys compete at this great regatta," he said. "Getting gold was a great way to cap off a successful fall, and we look forward to a big spring season."
Brunswick also took gold in the Frosh/Novice Men's HS Coxed fours; not a bad weekend for the Bruins.
King School Wins Men's Frosh/Novice High School Quad as a Coxswain Picks Up the Oars
King School won the Frosh/Novice boys quad with Zach Lew on board; Lew typically sits in the coxswain's seat and shared his thoughts on being behind the oars instead of behind the mic.
"As someone that primarily coxes, the preparation for a race from a rower's perspective was an exciting change of pace from my normal focus," Lew said. "It was certainly a big moment to be able to take the same rowing fundamentals that I had been drilling into the boat and apply it to my own technique.
"The biggest thing that I had to focus on was keeping my core engaged so that I could put the pressure through the legs, and making sure that I stayed focused on timing as I got fatigued. It was an awesome experience to get gold in our boat and it is an experience I hope to replicate in the spring."
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