Head of the Charles Regatta

Event 24M. / Championship Men's Eight

I was seated on the banks of the Charles River just before the Cambridge Boat Club and the Eliot Bridge, attempting to warm myself with a nice cup of hot cider while I enjoyed the last races of the day. It was a good spectator spot because we could see all the action and hear the announcer on the loudpeaker. As the Men's Eights were racing to the finish line the announcer told us that the Princeton Training Center had won this event last year and was expected to win it again this year. He also told us we would see the fastest racing of the day. He was right. Princeton Training Center was moving like a bat out of hell. I don't know what/why it happened, but they had trouble making the turn and met with the Eliot Bridge abutment. There was a collective gasp from the spectators. We saw other boats in earlier events have trouble with that turn, but didn't expect it from the Princeton Training Center Crew. They righted themselves quickly and were back in the race, but unfortunately did not finish first as expected.

The first photo is the Princeton Training Center crew whizzing along at top speed. The last photo shows from left to right: #4 - Dutch Rowing Federation, #2 - Harvard University, #3 - Princeton University, and #1 - Princeton Training Center.

I apologize for the quality of the photos, but that was the best I could do with the camera I had with me. Don't you just always have the wrong camera, or wrong lens for the occasion? It probably didn't help much that I was also juggling a hot cup of cider.

Click on photo to see full size.

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