They may share a boathouse, spend daily practices together and even help each other out with techniques and tips. But when competition day comes, these rivals show their true form.
For the crew teams at Concord High, Manchester Central High and The Derryfield School, building relationships during practices and housing their boats together has helped bolster the desire to be the best in the boathouse.
“We all see each other every day,” said Little Green rower Julie Charron. “So there’s a natural rivalry there. We help each other out during practices but it’s still cool to be competing against them.”
Charron’s thoughts were echoed by her teammates at this year’s New Hampshire Championship Regatta held on Saturday, Oct. 14. More than 1,500 rowers from collegiate and high school teams showed up to compete in the largest regatta in northern New England.
The Amoskeag Rowing Club of Hooksett hosted the tournament, which was held at Memorial Field in Pembroke. Rowers competed in four-person and eight-person races along the Merrimack River.
In the women’s junior novice 4+ race, Central took home sixth. Coxswain Anna Biron led rowers Hannah Gardener, Katherine Bourque, Jennifer Lacourse and Gretchen Tatulis to a time of 21 minutes, 17 seconds.
In the women’s junior 4+ finals, Anna Herlein, Kelsey Haley, Sarah Gerrish, Alexandra Farrell and Mary Naczas finished in 23:06, good for 15th place. In the women’s junior 8+ finals, the Little Green raced three boats finishing in sixth, 13th and 14th places, respectively.
In the men’s junior novice 8+, the Little Green took home top honors with a finish time of 16:58. The boat was led by rowers Joe Aubin, Nathan Moore, Max Auber, Andrew Lavoie, Stephen Johnson, Andrew Normandeau, Nathan Lussier, Alexander Howard and coxswain Nihco Gallo.
Central finished eighth in the men’s junior 8+ finals behind Oliver Cardin, Isaac LaCount, Isaiah LeCount, Colin Kimball, Matt Normandeau, Josh Chabot, Nick Wageling and coxswain Tom Richards. They finished the race in 16:33.
Central’s second boat finished in 12th with a time of 17:36. Rowers Daniel Duforney, Alex Calhoun, Alex Johnson, Michael Johnson, Tom Guidoboni, Ben Williamson, Chris Stone, Nick O’Connor and coxswain Mike Rose led that boat.
In the men’s novice 8+ finals, Aubin, Moore, Auger, Andrew Lavoie and Gallo came in first, finishing in 17:56. In the men’s junior novice 4+ finals, Isaac LeCount, Isaiah LeCount, Kimball, Alex Johnson and Richards finished in 17:21, good for second place.
Joe Lavoie, Justin Normand, Wageling, Calhoun and Rose took home 11th in the same race with a time of 18:54.
Hooksett’s Auger, in his first year on the crew team, said this regatta was the squad’s second and his toughest thus far.
“It’s definitely nerve-racking before any of my races,” said Auger. “But this one was really cool because we are at home. It makes it cooler when you have more friends and family cheering you on. Plus Concord has their home crowd here too, so it gets real loud.”