Teams from around the world will descend upon Cambridge this weekend for the annual Head of the Charles Regatta, one of the foremost international crew events. The regatta attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators, and for the men's and women's crew teams, the occasion marks one of the highlights of the year.
"I think you have to start with the uniqueness of the race," said director of rowing and women's coach Gary Caldwell, describing the significance of the race. "It's the largest head-style race in the world. It used to be a one-day race, but now it's expanded to two days, and it's the premier destination for college teams in the fall. It's the only head race that routinely turns away 50 percent of the entries, so I think that just the scarcity of entries increases its cachet."
The opportunity to race in a regatta with the status and tradition of the Head of the Charles is one of the major perks of rowing at a school in or near Boston.
"For Boston-area teams, for lack of a better term, it's essentially a home race on your own turf," Caldwell said.
"It's pretty high up there among the regattas, and definitely one of the most talked about," senior men's co-captain Nahv Etedali said. "I remember when I first told some of my friends that I would be rowing at Tufts, they immediately mentioned the Head of the Charles. So it's got a high level of significance in the rowing world."
The weight of that significance has global reach, as the field includes elite athletes from many countries.
"If you just look at the roster of entries, there are national teams from all over Europe competing," Caldwell said. "Our own national team is also racing, and there are probably more Olympic medalists, both past and present, competing at this race than any other non-championship race in the world."
Tomorrow, the men's and women's teams will each field one boat for the collegiate fours competition. On Sunday the men's team will have one entry in the collegiate eights race and the women's team will have two. For both squads, the regatta is a chance to evaluate their work during the fall and to set the tone for winter training in advance of the spring season.
"On the women's side, we're always cognizant of how our main spring competitors do in relation to us," Caldwell said. "That would be schools like Smith, Wellesley, Trinity, Williams and Colby. The student-athletes know that even though the fall results don't necessarily carry over to the spring, they can be a harbinger of things to come."
"It's the main gauge of the fall as to how we've improved from beginning to end," Etedali said.
The Head of the Charles, held annually since 1965, is known as more than just a crew competition. It's also blossomed into somewhat of a local festival, featuring live music and free food. According to Caldwell, the fact that this year's race falls on Parents Weekend creates an added dimension for the Tufts rowing community.
"A lot of alumni return, so it's a great opportunity to rekindle old friendships," he said. "It's also fortunate that every two or three years it falls on Parents Weekend, like it does this time. So all the parents get to come down and watch their sons or daughters race without having to choose between coming for Parents Weekend or the Head of the Charles. So that's always an added bonus, having alumni, parents and current students all together at the same time.
"For varsity athletes at Tufts, athletics is part of a broader undergraduate experience," he continued. "I think for current undergrads, it's great for them to get a chance to meet people who rowed here five or ten years ago and see what they're doing with their lives. This is the not the end of the road for these athletes. There is life after college rowing."
One of the defining characteristics of the Head of the Charles is the unique layout of the course, which features several turns, each marked by a bridge. The preponderance of bends in the course puts an added emphasis on the performance of the coxswains.
"Most races in the spring are a dead straight line, and it's the job of the coxswain to keep the boat heading straight," Caldwell said. "It's pretty evident to everyone watching when they don't. But here, with so many turns, the coxswains have to be anticipatory and always be thinking two or three turns ahead. It's like a chess match out on the river. They have to know where every boat is, not just now, but where they're going to be in ten minutes."
Still, Etedali believes that responsibility for turning the boat falls on both the rowers and the coxswains.
"It's a coxswain's race more than a rower's race, but it helps the coxswains if the rowers help pull the boat around the turns," he said. "Especially at the Eliot Bridge turn towards the end of the race, which is essentially a U-turn, there's heavy pressure on the starboard side."
The turn at the Eliot Bridge has evolved into one of the marquee locations for watching the race, due to the suspense caused by such a sharp turn.
"At the hairpin turn under the Eliot Bridge about a half mile from the end of the race, passing other crews becomes an adventure sport," Caldwell said. "I remember last year there was a Chinese team that almost sank underneath the bridge. It's like watching NASCAR, waiting for someone to crash, except to a slightly lower degree."
For the seniors on both the men's and women's teams, the novelty of participating in the race has not worn out. All the active seniors on each roster will row this weekend.
"As a senior, this is my last time competing in the Head of the Charles as a rower," Etedali said. "There is definitely added weight and significance."
