On Saturday, October 21st, 2023, Mr. Richards competed in the 59th annual Head of the Charles Regatta in the Men’s Grand Master Fours starting at 10:16 a.m. His boat placed third, with a time of 17:54. Coach Richards and his crew previously won two consecutive Head of the Charles races last year and the year before.
Coach Richards and his crew, Richard Sampson, Greg Wilkins, and Jake Everett, three of whom have been rowing together since 2004, have been sticking to a diligent training plan consisting of around 5 workouts a week, and roughly 3 of which consist of on-water training out of the Belmont Hill boathouse. Coach Richards is known for pushing the Belmont Hill Crew team to their limits during practice, but he makes sure to do similar workouts with his crew to put them in the best position possible for regattas.
Coach Richard’s journey with this specific crew started in 2004 when they competed in the 40+ four event at Head of the Charles. The crew had large aspirations; however, the day before the big regatta, the stroke seat blew out his back and was unable to row. The boat did not let this misfortune define them, however. They came back the next year and dethroned the reigning winners, the 1980 Rowing Club, and started a legacy.
The ensuing year, the crew hoped to win their second HOCR in a row; however, they got off to a slow start. Coach Richard’s oar got stuck on a buoy very early in a race, causing them to turn completely perpendicular to the race course, resulting in a loss of many seconds. Despite this catastrophe early on, they fought back to win their second HOCR. From 2004 to 2008, Coach Richards and his boatmates won every single HOCR, making their biggest win streak of 5 years in a row.
More recently, Coach Richards and his crew have been competing in the 50+ four, and this year in the Grand Master four. Their success has not been limited to the 5 year streak in the 40+ four. They won twice in the 50+ four, with one of the wins even setting a new course record for the age bracket. In 2021, the crew won HOCR again, and in 2022, they started yet another winning streak.
This year, Coach Richards and his crew hope to have a great row, and would love to take home the gold once more, continuing their extremely successful, impressive history.
Similarly on Sunday, October 22nd, 2023, Mr. Calloway competed in the Men’s Club 8+. Dr. Calloway rowed for Riverside Boat Club in Cambridge. His boat placed 5th, with a time of 14:32. Riverside entered three 8+s in the Men’s Club 8+ event, of which Mr. Calloway is in the first Varsity 8+.
The training plan for Coach Calloway’s boat is similar to the BH crew training plan except with a lot more volume, as he states that it is “because we are older and have been rowing longer.” Also, because all of the members of the crew have full-time jobs, the training schedule is very different. Their crew practices six times a week, but they either practice at 5:30 in the morning or 6:00 at night.
Last year, Mr. Calloway’s club, Riverside Boat Club, took third behind two of Harvard and Brown’s lower boats, making them thefastest club that year. This year, they are aiming even higher, trying to beat out the collegiate boats. He points out that he’s not just looking at those seeded above him as he says, “we are gunning for them, but you can’t take anybody seeded behind you for granted”.
To earn a spot on the top boat, Mr. Calloway has had erg tests and multiple seat races, similar to our own selections at Belmont Hill. Seat racing is where you have two boats lined up against each other and two people in the same seat race against each other and then switch boats and race again. This is one of the main ways in which water boat selections are made.
Coach Calloway said that last year, two of the seniors asked if he still gets nervous for erg tests and other forms of selection, to which he responded, “It’s nerve-wracking and very emotional. You are competing directly with your friends and teammates in a very public way. Everyone can see the margins. That kind of competition can make me lose sleep, lose my appetite, etc.” Even after rowing for more than 15 years, these same struggles still affect him, but knowing these struggles allows him to understand what the kids on the BH crew team are going through.
“I know exactly what our boys are feeling whenever they sit down to an erg test or climb over the gunwales to compete against their best friend because I’m doing it too.”
