— Evan LaBuzetta reports from Cambridge, Massachusetts

Last October, a crew of Pembroke alumni assembled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to race in the Head of the Charles regatta. HOCR is the largest  two-day rowing regatta in the world, attracting over 8,000 competitors and a quarter-million spectators annually.

The Pembrokians in this storied event included Americans and Brits, undergraduates and graduates, visiting students and fellows, all motivated by love for our college. Thanks to the generosity of supporters, we were able to raise $2,500 in donations for the Bridging Centuries campaign. Although we had trained independently for the better part of the year and practice time prior to the race was limited (five members of our boat flew over from England for the race), we entered into the very competitive “alumni eights” category.

Race day saw a clear autumn morning with wonderful conditions. We started 31st out of 38 crews, and moved up several placed to finish 28th, in 17:46. Harriet did a superb job steering a treacherous and unfamiliar course, and we were able to get settled in for a lengthy battle with the Mustang Boat Club crew that started directly behind us. After being passed in the first mile, we passed them back at mile marker 2 and went on to beat them by several lengths. In all, it was quite a creditable result for a scratch crew, and a fantastic day’s racing.

The crew would like to say thanks to Riverside club for hosting us and providing equipment, and particular thanks to all the supporters who came to the river, cheered, provided Pimms, and donated to Bridging Centuries on our behalf.

Crew list, cox to bow:

Harriet Teare (2002), Ari Freisinger (2006, visiting student, Columbia), James Gillies (2003), Prof. Ben Davis (?), Jonathan Ross (2006), John Papp (2004, visiting student, Tufts), Phil Howard (2003), Jeff Newton (2004, visiting student, Boston University), Evan LaBuzetta (2002, visiting student, Cornell)