The Belmont Hill Crew team has been off to a strong start this season, with boat line-ups finally settling and the boats themselves moving quicker and quicker every day. Escaping down to Orlando, Florida for March Break, the team rowed in near-perfect conditions on the alligator-inhabited Lake Mary Jane (indeed, a baby gator was spotted on several occasions). Developing a good base down south, the team was lucky enough to find the Charles River unfrozen by the time school resumed. Under the leadership of VI Form Captains John Power, Andrew Wilkins, and Jamie Mazzio-Manson, the team is working hard to match and beat the talents of crews such as the ones at Deerfield and Groton.
Looking ahead to the culminating NEIRA races, the crew has already enjoyed successes on the water. At the opening race against the Pomfret School, the top six BH 4’s all handily defeated the visiting team. Next, the top 4 boats traveled to Middlesex to race, where each boat gained large margins on the hosting crew; the 1st boat even set the course record! Later that week, the top 6 boats all raced BBN in the 56th year of the Ducey Cup, one of the oldest high school crew races in New England. Continuing the trend of the last decade or so, Belmont Hill successfully retained the cup in its boathouse.
Next, Belmont Hill faced off against Nobles to compete for the Basset Cup, another long-standing race. After all six BH boats defeated Nobles, the Cup stayed for another year in the boat bay.
Finally, the team traveled to Lake Quinsigamond for the annual Wayland-Weston Regatta, the largest New England high school regatta before NEIRAs. Facing stiff competition in the talented Groton and Deerfield crews, Belmont Hill stayed strong and nearly swept the whole regatta. From the bottom, the fifth and sixth boats both won their races, the fourth boat edged out Groton by 0.3 seconds, the third boat won by over 5 seconds, the second boat took second, and the first boat seized first place, 2 seconds ahead of the competition. The encouraging results of the regatta confirmed that the competition will be fierce in the weeks ahead, but Belmont Hill will be right there in the mix. With NEIRAs only a few weeks away, the team is training hard and doing everything it can to stay ahead of the tough competition.
