Rowing together in a good boat can forge lasting bonds, and when the time came for Fred Schoch to find a sponsor for the new cash prizes the Head Of The Charles will award in the Championship Singles, he turned to an old boatmate--and longtime friend--in Don Smith.
Smith, who rowed at Penn and Belmont Hill, owns and operates the largest chain of Valvoline Instant Oil Change franchises in the United States through a collection of businesses called the Henley Companies. That group will underwrite the prize money on offer to the top three finishers in the Champ Singles, where the men's and women's winner will each receive $10,000, with $5,000 awarded for second place, and $2,500 for third place.
(Read the announcement about the introduction of the cash prizes here.)
When the regatta first announced the $35,000 in prizes in July, Schoch did not have presenting sponsor for the money, but then he talked to Smith about the opportunity.
"He's a longtime friend of mine," said Schoch. "Don has supported the regatta in the past but I asked him if he would chip in for the prize money for the singles this year, and he agreed."
The bond Smith and Schoch share as boatmates did not come from rowing together at school or in college. Instead, Schoch, in one of his first jobs after college, happened to be teaching at Smith's alma mater, the Belmont Hill School, when Smith returned home to Boston after rowing at Penn. The two wound up in a four which earned a spot at the Olympic Festival in 1978, and then went on to race at Henley that year, for the Wyfold Cup.
That Henley experience inspired the name of the business Smith eventually founded.
"Back in the day, as Valvoline's first franchise, I named my company Henley Enterprises after rowing with Fred and other guys over at Henley," said Smith. "We've expanded to 250 stores, and it's gone very well, so I wanted to support the Head of the Charles and Fred because that was where I started and I identified a lot with rowing in the early years."
Joining the two in that Henley crew were Smith's brother, Brad, who later rowed on the National Team, and Nigel Gallaher, who would eventually served as HOCR race director and on the regatta's signage committee for many years. To coach the four, they enlisted the services of Stewart McDonald, the two time US Olympic coxswain and national team coach, who happened to be the Smiths' cousin, and--at the time--a fellow teacher with Schoch at Belmont Hill.
"Fred really wanted to get a supporter for the prize money that they were instituting this year," said Smith, "and I think it's an exciting way to make the Head more competitive, starting in the elite singles.".
Schoch said that getting Smith involved and securing a named donor for the prize money is significant.
"It connects the dots in the rowing community. We get a lot of support from people who have touched the sport in the past and see the value of it, and not just in their own lives, and they want to pass that legacy on."
"For people who have been impacted by this sport, and have had successful careers because of the lessons that they've learned through rowing, it's an opportunity for them to give back," said Schoch about sponsorships like these.
Attaching the prize money to the Champ Singles event was designed, said Schoch, "to encourage a stronger field for the Head Of The Charles, and to bring in the best of the best.
"We know a lot of rowers make sacrifices to stay in the sport, so we thought a cash prize would be an incentive to come race that would also support what they are doing. The Gold Cup has done a nice job with this, and we're providing another incentive for top athletes to come and compete."
The prizes on offer have already had an impact on the Champ Single entries this year, noted Schoch.
"The field has increased significantly this year due to this announcement. There's many US scullers who have not entered the Head of the Charles in the past who are that are lining up to take a charge down the course and that's very exciting for us.
"If you look at the singles entries for both genders, it's chock-a-block full of US team scullers, and that was the whole purpose: to light a fire under American scullers to to continue to pursue sculling, because we all know that's an area of US rowing that needs encouragement and development."
Smith said that his motivation to sponsor the Champ Singles prize was about "giving back to the sport."
"It's nice to put a name to the prize money," said Schoch about partnering again with Smith, "so we can give credit where credit is due."
The Champ singles will race for the prize purse on Saturday afternoon at the 2023 Head Of The Charles, and this will be the first time a cash award will be available for a full course competition at the regatta.
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