By Kate Joseph
Staff Writer

The Simmons College crew team rowed in the 49th Annual Head of the Charles Regatta on Saturday, Oct. 19 and Sunday, Oct. 20, taking 27th and 16th place respectively.

The Head of the Charles Regatta is the world’s largest two-day rowing event, featuring more than 9,000 athletes from 23 different countries competing in 55 events.

“We came out this year with a strong team ready to work hard,” said Collegiate Eight rower Taylor Nealand. “I think we did really well on working together and helping each other succeed. We came together as teammates and helped each other out with nerves, strategies, and experience altogether.”

The Sharks started off on Saturday with the Simmons Crew Collegiate Four entry rowing to 27th place with a time of 20:32.887. The boat consisted of Emme Rosenberg, Olivia Kritzman, Taylor Nealand, Sophie Stone, and Andrea Breen.
“Head of the Charles is always an exciting race,” said Breen. “People come from all over the world and the energy is just amazing! I thought my boat did great considering we had only been practicing together for a couple weeks.”

The Simmons Alumnae Eight also raced on Saturday, finishing at 30th place with a time of 20:06.258. Nicole Gallant ‘10, Amanda DeRosa ‘11, Katherine McCombs ‘93, Kimberly Locke ‘93, Rebecca Brown ‘12, Cindy Reynolds ‘13, Julianne Davis ‘10, Laura Jungreis ‘13, and Kristina (Vulgaris) Levasseur ‘08 made up the alumnae entry.

On Sunday the Simmons Collegiate Eight raced to 16th place out of 25 boats with a time of 19:13.030. The team consisted of Olivia Smiaroski, Alexandra Kruzel, Kate Hale, Katelyn Allen, Jill Bolduc, Lauren Lane, Jane Walsh, Aris Walker, and Chelsea Foster.

“I thought the regatta went really well for our team this weekend,” said Walsh. “We are working to become more competitive with other teams in our conference and are successfully closing the gap with every race.”

Crew returns on Sunday, Oct. 27, for the Seven Sisters Regatta at Bryn Mawr, PA.