Brentwood at the 2014 Head of the Charles Regatta

26 October 2014Jim Ganley

In 1965 a group of rowers from the Cambridge Rowing Club decided to start up an event to finish off the fall racing on the East Coast. What started out as a local event quickly turned into a destination event for rowers all around the world. Fast-forward to 2014 and the 50th anniversary of the Head of the Charles Regatta. There are now 32 countries represented at the HOC. There were 11,000 athletes competing in 60 events over the two days. This is the largest rowing regatta in the world. Starting at 7:00 am on Saturday and at 15 second intervals, 2,500 crews race down the 4800-meter course. There are five significant bends on the course, the most famous being the turn just before the Elliot Bridge. Brentwood College Rowing Club alumni were scattered all over the events during the two days. Here is a summary of how our BCS alum did at the HOC Regatta this year. Saturday, October 18th: Harold Backer, ‘80, placed 7th in the Masters 50+ Men’s 8+ event for the Fat Cat Rowing Club, the Princeton University Alumni crew. Harold graduated from Princeton in 1985. Along the way he rowed in three Olympic Games, 1984, 1988 and 1992. Harold’s rowing career is still not over. Once he finished with the national team, he started coaching at Brentwood and produced a number of national champion junior crews. In 2009 he was the recipient of the Athlete Community Excellence Coach of the Year. Darren Barber, ‘87, placed 3rd in the Masters 40+ Men’s 8+ event. Darren was rowing for a Canadian National Team alumni boat. In high school Darren rowed on Brentwood’s Varsity Men’s 8+ for three years as well as the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. He was a member of the 1992 Canadian Men’s 8+ that won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games. Tara Christensen, ‘14, placed 5th in the Club Women’s 8+ event. She was rowing for her new club, Duke University. Tara was the Captain of the Brentwood Rowing Club last year and won the Ian Biscoe Award for her outstanding contribution to the Brentwood College Rowing Club. Sunday, October 19th: The weather conditions on Sunday were horrendous with a very strong, cold headwind. Ellis H, ‘16 was rowing with a friend of his in the Youth Double. Having met last December at a sculling camp, the two decided to put an entry into the Head of the Charles. A lottery pick, the two boys, one from Minnesota and Ellis from Brentwood, rowed together three times before racing on Sunday. They had an unfortunate collision with a crew from England halfway through the race and stopped for 30 seconds before starting up again. Had this accident not happen, Ellis and his partner would have finished in the middle of the pack. Martin Barakso, ‘12 was rowing for Princeton University in the Championship 8+. His crew finished 9th overall and 5th in the collegiate division. In high school, Martin won two national titles and four silver medals. In 2010 he was named the Canadian Sculler of the Year by Rowing Canada. Martin was a gold medalist in the Under 23 coxed four for Canada this past summer at the World Championships. Nick Ridenour, ‘13 was rowing for Cornell University in the Championship 8+. They too had an unfortunate accident early on in the race and were penalized one minute and finished 33rd. Nick stroked the Brentwood Varsity Men’s 8+ in 2013 to a national championship. Kirsten McNeill, ‘14 was rowing for Middlebury College in the Collegiate 8+. They placed 9th out of 30 crews. Kirsten won a silver and bronze at the 2014 Canadian National Championships and was the Senior Dux Award (top academic) winner this past June. Brendan Hodge, ‘03 was rowing for the London Training Centre in the Lightweight 4+. They were first, winning the elusive Head of the Charles gold medal. His crew consisted of three members of Canada’s Lightweight Men’s 4- from this past summer’s World Championships. At Brentwood, Brendan won four national titles, including stroking the Brentwood Varsity Men’s 8+ to two of those titles. Adelaide Backer, ‘10 was rowing for the Harvard-Radcliffe Lightweight women’s 8+. They placed second overall and were the fastest collegiate crew in the field. At Brentwood, Adelaide had a very successful career including the gold medal at our National Championships in the Sr. Lightweight women’s pair in 2010, as well as, the Junior National team trials. Coaches Scott Frandsen, ‘98 is the Assistant Head coach of the University of California Berkeley. His men’s 8+ were competing in the Championship 8+. After a successful collegiate career at the University of California Berkeley, where he won three national titles (2000-2002), Scott went to Oxford University where his crew won the famous Oxford-Cambridge Boatrace in the closest finish in the event’s 160 year history. Scott rowed in three Olympic Games, ’04, ’08, ’12. He won the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the Men’s pair with fellow Brentwood grad David Calder, ‘96. Greg Hughes, ‘92 is the Head coach of the Princeton University Heavyweight men’s programme. His men’s 8+ competed in the Championship 8+ and finished 9th overall, 5th in the collegiate event. Greg had a very successful rowing career at Brentwood, including a number of Canadian national titles. In his Grade 12 year, Greg was in seven seat of Brentwood’s Varsity Men’s 8+ that went to the American Scholastic Rowing Championships and won the Senior Men’s 8+, a first for Brentwood. After Brentwood, Greg had a very successful lightweight career at Princeton University winning the national championships in 1996. Brian Carr, ‘80 coached Ellis H and his partner in the Youth double.

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