Head of the Charles is one of the top 5 largest stages of the rowing world and Connecticut Boat Club raced four boats! On a very sunny/no wind/flat water October 20th the River Rats went out and bossed the course.

The CBC Coxed 1V 4x was steered by Senior Norwalk High School coxswain, AJ Kompiewska, Stroked by Sophia Dranchak, 3 seat Charlotte Mickelborough, 2 seat Iso McCoy and bow seat Kate McDonald. The crew started bow 9 and after a tough battle down the course finished in 25th place. Bow 1 crew Notre Dame RC had finished first last year and finished behind the CBC quad. Many of the crews from the back of the pack made their way to the top 15 places in this event this year!

At 9:02am CBC’s U17 8+ took on the course, finishing 3rd in their age category. The crew: coxswain Allison Murray, 8 seat Kam Morgenstern, 7 seat Olivia Macaluso, 6 seat Camilla Calderwood, 5 seat Norah Surette, 4 seat Katie Estabrook, 3 seat Leighton Busby, 2 seat Christina Charnin, and bow seat Sophia Kearns had a more challenging course. They found themselves in a tough spot on one of the turns that resulted in them stopping for a few strokes and picking up a 1 minute penalty. The crew was safe during the encounter with the other boat. Without the penalty the crew would have finished second in their age category which is a great statement to their fitness and how well the crew gelled together.

In the teams last event (the coxed four) two CBC boats represented the club. In this very competitive race, CBC’s 1V4+ went off the start line first (earning this spot from their gold medal finish last year) and the 2V4+ started in bow 20. In this 90 boat race a lot happened! The teams 1V4+  (Layla Sisca, Sophie Bell, Reagan Weneck, Filippa Keszti and coxswain Izzy Khamish) had a great race where they finished 15th overall. The 2V4+ (Winnie Wartels, Tanaya Dixit, Alexandra Maniatty, Holly Hulme and steered by coxswain Jiah Baak) finished with a strong 44th place out of the 90 boats!

This is always an adrenaline packed weekend in Boston, it truly is the Wild West out there with so many boats in each category and the course being as challenging as it is. CBC is already looking forward to next year’s Head of the Charles race and is wishing for as great of weather as this weekend!

October 14th and 15th will forever be two unforgettable days in the CBC history books. For those that don’t know, only 0.0000017% of the world’s population or roughly 1 in 500,000 people, ever make it to the Olympics. Connecticut Boat Club’s very own, Kelsey Reelick is one of those extremely rare people! The team Head Coach, Liz Trond is full of admiration and beyond proud of CBC Class of 2010 athlete, Kelsey Reelick. Which is why she wanted to give Reelick the center stage that she deserved post her great 5th place performance on the world’s largest stage, The Olympics!

Reelick grew up in Brookfield, Connecticut and commuted to Norwalk based rowing team, Connecticut Boat Club every day her senior year of high school with her sister, Erin Reelick. Legacy spells out CBC’s core values, and Reelick’s legacy is one that no one ever forgets but often are inspired by. The CBC river rats were thrilled to meet the famous Kelsey and prepared baked goods, drew pictures of Kelsey, had 2 hours worth of questions for her and dressed up in team colors each day to show their support and spirit.

‘There was never anything that we could have done in these two days to truly capture how special Kelsey is and what she means to Liz, myself and the foundation of what this teams core is/has always been’ shared Reelick’s CBC coxswain, Katherine Isaza. She continued, ‘Seeing Kelsey back at the boathouse 15 years later felt out of the norm but also felt like we were just here together 2 years ago. In spending time with her I quickly remembered the amazing person that she has always been and how she makes others around her better by just being her true authentic self.’

Senator Bob Duff is a champion of women in sports and when he learned about Kelsey’s incredible accomplishments at CBC, Princeton University, the United States National Team and now the USA Olympic team he was thrilled to meet her in person and present her with an award. The entire team was in attendance for the award ceremony in addition to our friends at News12, The Norwalk Hour, GameTime and the Stamford Advocate.

Kelsey was open and honest in her conversations with the press. Reelick’s interviews will be available via the news outlets listed above as early as tonight at 9:30pm on News12. It is an incredible opportunity to learn more about her, the sport, and the olympics!

Congratulations Kelsey! Connecticut Boat Club is so proud of you and has loved cheering you on for the past 15 years. Happy Retirement, you are a legend and your legacy will forever live on!

The Head of the Housatonic Regatta is one of the most beautiful Fall racing courses. Surrounded by the Fall Foliage on both sides, sunny and flat water racing conditions it is a rowers dream Sunday! The Connecticut Boat Club girls were in Derby Connecticut racing in both sweeping and skulling events.

Four CBC singles hit the water first thing in the morning. Two of the boats were River Rats whom hadn’t touched a single skull since this summer, let alone ever raced in one. Fun fact: it was all of the girls idea to enter the race! Being in a single is a different type of experience and it sounds like some of the girls really wanted to have that which the coaching staff at CBC completely supported. Similarly to last weekends race in New Jersey the U17 8+ raced in the 1V 8+ category at the Housatonic as well. The U17 girls had a great race but also a great learning experience! The 8+ placed 14th amongst other crews top high school seniors and juniors.

Kicking off the afternoon racing were three CBC Varsity quads. CBC A boat finished the race with a gold medal, winning time of 16:10. 7th and 8th places were claimed by CBC B and CBC C boats. With a very quick turn around after the quads race, it was time for many of the quads girls to jump into the coxed four race! The CBC 1V 4+ came back together after splitting into the A and B quads. Finishing with a time of 17:16 (12th place), the 2V 4+ finished with a time of 17:47 (17th place). A few events later, the Women 2V 4+ took on the course. CBC entered 3 boats, A boat: 5th place, B boat: 9th, C boat: 15th place.

In the last event of the day, the crowd went wild cheering for the Novice 8+ girls as they stormed by the tent area in the first 1000 meters of the race! It was Maddie Scholl and her novice rowers that took home the gold medal! Winning with a time of 16:34, second place finisher was Greenwich Crew with a time of 16:47 and bronze medalists were the Saugatuck Crew with a time of 16:58.

What a great finish to a wonderful all team racing day! The girls travel to Boston next to take on the World Famous, Head of the Charles Regatta on October 20th.

Norwalk based, Connecticut Boat Club girls only rowing team made a Fall racing schedule switch this year. Instead of attending the Head of the Riverfront in Hartford the team made a day trip down to New Jersey and competed at the Overpeck Fall Classic. This was the first all team regatta this Fall and the girls were ready to compete!

Head Coach Liz Trond entered two singles into the race on Sunday October 6th with team leaders, Sophie Bell and Sophia Dranchack. Earning her 3rd gold medal in the single this Fall season, Team Captain Sophie Bell came in first place. Sophia had a wonderful race and placed in 4th place against some great competitors. The regatta continued with more gold medals for the CBC girls in the Varsity quad race. Gold medalists in this boat that won by 15.8 seconds were Sophia Dranchack, Charlotte Mickelborough, Kate McDonald and Iso McCoy.

The 2nd Varsity quad had a total of 3 boat entries (7 total boats in the race) from CBC and no surprise, CBC swept the podium with the 3 boats that represented the team! In first place was Senior stroke Layla Morris, Lucia Noekker, Gwen Horn and Holly Hulme. Behind Morris’ boat by 1.4 seconds were silver medalists Winnie Wartels, Christina Charnin, Alex Maniatty and bow seat Tanaya Dixit. Rounding out the podium in this 7 boat race were Brooke LeBaron, Leighton Busby, Skye Coats and Noelle Basta.

Trond’s Varsity 4+ (Rowers: Layla Sisca, Sophie Bell, Reagan Weneck and Fili Keszti) was led by senior coxswain, Izzy Khamish. The crew raced this line up for the first time this season earning a Bronze medal in New Jersey behind Montclair A and B boats. Izzy Khamish’s younger sister, Mishi Khamish had her debut as a Novice coxswain in the Novice 8+ boat. Mishi led her crew to a 2 minutes and 30 second win over Montclair and City Island crews. These speedy novices where 8 seat, Camilla Calderwood, Olivia Macaluso (7 seat), Kate Surette (6 seat), Avril MacHale (5 seat), Kate Johnson (4 seat), Caroline Hendrickson (3 seat), Kirsten Borner and Gracie Mickels in bow pair.

CBC had two amazing coxed fours ready to race down the course in the second varsity four event. In first place 8.2 seconds ahead of Montclair A and C crews senior coxswain AJ led her boat to a victory. Kam Morgenstein, Norah Surette, Katie Estabrook and Sophia Kearns were the engine behind this boat! Finishing in fourth place was the teams B boat, coxed by Junior coxswain, Jiah Baak and rowed by Alex Maniatty, Tanaya Dixit, Gwen Horn and Holly Hulme. The Women’s Varsity 8+ was an exciting event where two CBC boats competed and earned podium finishes. AJ led her boat to a silver medal and Izzy led her boat to a bronze medal. AJ’s V8 finished 2 seconds behind first place finisher, Montclair and while Izzy’s U17 8+ finished 6 seconds off of Montclair and 4 seconds off of CBC’s A boat.

In the 2V 8+ event CBC entered another 2 boat scenario like in the 1V 8+ event where one boat was more experienced than the other boat. The older, more experienced crew proved to win again in this event. Junior coxswain Jiah and her crew earned their bronze medal passing several boats in their race and Freshman coxswain, Arwen and her boat mates finished in 4th place. Of note: Arwen and her crew are all U16 athletes!

Michigan commits, Reagan Weneck and Iso McCoy raced together in the 1V doubles event and earned 3rd place hardware to add to their collection! Wilton besties, Kate McDonald and Charlotte Mickelborough brought home gold medals in their 2V doubles race with their 1 minute and 37 seconds win over GMS Rowing. Novices: Mishi, Camilla, Olivia, Kate and Avril jumped back in a boat to round out the racing day for CBC in the Novice 4+ event and they took home another gold medal! In second place was the other half of the Novice 8+ (Kirsten, Kate, Gracie, Caroline) led by Novice coxswain Maddie.

What a spectacular start to the Fall racing season for the entire CBC Squad! Let’s do it again this weekend in our home state of Connecticut at the Head of the Housatonic!

Hello Springfield! Hello Fall Season! CBC is officially back in racing mode. The season kicked off on September 7th in Springfield Massachusetts where CBC brought a select number of athletes to compete.

Saturday’s racing kicked off with Captain, Sophie Bell in the singles race. Bell won her event with a time of 11:32.5 which was a 20 second lead on second place finisher from Hudson River Rowing Association. After the masters races and some boys racing events, CBC hit the start line again with their 3 varsity coxswains leading the charge. Captain Izzy Khamish led charge in her 4+ with fellow Captain Iso McCoy, Katie Estabrook, Kam Morgenstein and Sophia Kearns. Khamish’s boat finished with a gold medal after a great race! In second place with a time of 22:54.5 exactly 1 minute behind Khamish was a great crew led by Norwalk High School Senior Coxswain, AJ Kompiewska and her rowers Winnie Wartels, Norah Surette, Leighton Busby and Gwyn Horn. Jiah Baak steered her 4+ to a great season opener finishing in 3rd place helping CBC complete a full sweep in the 4+ event! In Jiah’s boat Christina Charnin stroked, 3 seat Layla Morris, 2 seat Lucia Noekker and Holly Hulme in bow seat.

In Event 30 CBC entered a double with Kate McDonald in stroke and Sophia Dranand in bow. The double earned a gold medal with a time of 24:06.3 ahead of silver medalist Gentle Giant Rowing Club who posted a time of 25:02.3. CBC raced two pairs in Event 32 where they claimed first and second places! The gold medal was won by Greenwich’s Fili Keszti and Ridgefield’s Layla Sisca while the silver medalists were Reagan Weneck and Charlotte Mickelborough.

What a great start to the season! CBC will race again in a month’s time down in New Jersey so please tune in to cheer on the girls! Follow us on Facebook for more day to day moments, search: Connecticut Boat Club

Two National Championship wins on June 9, 2024 marks a total of 13 National Championship wins for the programs history book!

The hardware, trophies and pearly whites were on full display on Sunday. The Darien natives and incoming Dartmouth University Freshman Caroline Krantz and Annika Nelson brought home a 2 peat in the 2- race! Together they have raced the 2- at Nationals three times (medaling each year but with a gold medal in 2023 and now 2024). It should be no surprise that the 4- is the exact rowers that won the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta in October. The 4- was led by Caroline and Annika, the bow pair Sophie Bell and Callaghan Nickerson. This was sadly the crews last race all together after nearly two years of racing and training together.

Krantz summarized her 2024 Nationals experience, “The best way to describe today was gritty- being able to win two national championships in one morning was hard but one of the most rewarding experiences. In our pair race, Annika and I’s goal was to finish first with the least amount of effort possible. We were up and out off the start which allowed for us to settle into a competitive but relatively controlled base. We ended up finishing the race first- we were definitely tired and had worked hard, but we had some gas left in the tank for us to attack the four. Annika and I then spent around thirty minutes recovering in Liz’s car with the AC blasting while Sophie and Callie got the four ready to race. In our four race, we were pretty much down by open water until 500 meters to go. Being down for most of the race didn’t scare us though- we were confident that when it was time for the sprint we would be able to push forward. That’s exactly what happened- we took a big push coming through the 500 and in 20 strokes walked through Rye. We ended up finishing first with open water. It was such a fun day being able to accomplish something amazing with my best friends. It was very bittersweet being our last CBC race ever, but I couldn’t have asked for a better last race.”

The Sunday finals racing continued with CBC’s quad finishing 10th in the country! On Saturday’s finals CBC had some strong finishes in the largest National Championship Regatta to date. Both the U17 4+ and U16 4x+ finished 13th in the country! Our strong and mighty U17 4x finished 22nd in the country!

What an incredible academic calendar yearly of racing it has been for the entire CBC squad. If you are interested in joining the team, please feel free to reach out! You could be the next CBC National Champion.

22 of Connecticut Boat Club’s athletes have qualified for the USRowing National Championship! 22 athletes represents about a third of the club which will be an incredible presence at the Championship this year.

The Northeast Regionals took place this past weekend, May 18-19 where CBC competed in 9 of the women’s events. Kicking off the racing for our Norwalk based team was our pair (2-) including Caroline Krantz at stroke and Annika Nelson in bow seat. The duo kicked off the weekend strong for the club by winning their heat and ultimately winning the grand final on Sunday by 9 seconds ahead of Greenwich Rowing 2-. This pair will be looking to race hard at Nationals to defend their national champions title from 2023. We are so excited to support them and cheer hard for them. 2 Peat please!

Izzy Khamish led the CBC Varsity 4+ with her stroke Miya Lee, 3 seat Reagan Weneck, 2 seat Sylvia Freidenrich and bow seat Maddy Dodge. In this crews first time racing together, they placed 10th place in the heat on Saturday, securing their seat in the semi final where they completed the course 8 seconds faster than their heat time trial! In the grand final the 4+ finished in 6th place 2 seconds behind the Saugatuck boat. The 2V4x A boat had an undefeated weekend with senior leader and stroke, Charlotte Volz! The crew swept their competition in both the heat and the finals race with significant open water. Charlotte was supported by super star Ellie Lennon, Charlotte Mickelborough and Iso McCoy. Bow pair McCoy and Mickelborough will be returning for their senior year at CBC in the Fall and are more than likely to have a kicker 2024/25 year! In the same event the B boat was led by Kate McDonald in stroke, Riley Cavanna in 3 seat, Holly Hulme in 2 seat and Elle Arnold in bow. In the crews first time racing together, senior leaders Arnold and Cavanna helped the crew secure 4th place in both events this weekend. We are so proud of both crews for representing CBC in the best way and being incredible teammates to one another.

Our Varsity Quad was a boat packed with 4 seniors. Audrey Sears stroked, Lila Seidenberg raced in 3 seat, Ava Weneck led bow pair from 2 seat, and CBC Captain Charlotte Maschoff bowed the boat. This was one of the crowd favorite events of the weekend. The competition was sharp and our girls responded to such pressure. In the Saturday heat race the CBC 4x placed 4th in the time trail, only 1 second off of 3rd place finisher! In the semi final race the crew had a clean 2nd place finish, allowing them to save their legs for the finals race later that day. In the grand final the crew finished in 5th place and earned a seat at the Nationals table by being the next up boat when other crews scratched the event at Nationals. The girls are stoked for this second chance and cannot wait to compete at the Nationals level.

The CBC 4- followed in the 2- and 2V4x footsteps and also swept the competition this weekend in both their heat and finals race. The crew composed of Caroline Krantz, Annika Nelson, Sophie Bell and Callaghan Nickerson is Nationals bound! They are making history and leaving their legacy as they are the first crew to ever win the 4- for CBC. As for our middle schoolers, they won a silver medal this weekend in the grand final. The girls raced in the U16 4x+ and dominated! The coxed quad was led by middle school coxswain, Arwen Leopold. In stroke seat she had Leelee Alix, 3 seat Emily Goertel, 2 seat Catherine Parent and bow seat Noelle Basta. The crews talent is undeniable, especially Noelle as she raced in both U17 and U16 events and earned podium placements in both!

As mentioned in the spoiler, Noelle Basta bowed the Novice 4+ as well and contributed to her boats gold medal! Layla Sisca is a name we have heard often this spring season and without a doubt she was the stroke of this boat. Supporting both Sisca and Basta was Katie Estabrook in 3 seat and 2 seat Alexandra Maniatty. The boat was coxed by AJ Kompiewska who has had a dominate first season with CBC. This event split the heats into 3 categories where first and second place finishers advanced to the final. AJ led her crew to the 2nd fastest time overall in the heat but fastest in her heat. In the grand final on Sunday AJ and Layla finished the race 9 seconds ahead of 2nd place finisher, Narragansett Boat Club. We certainly wish there was an opportunity for this category to race at Nationals but the girls will continue to train at CBC head quarters and move into other racing categories in the near future!

Allison Murray drove the U17 4+ straight to a silver medal on Sunday! Kamryn Morgenstern stroked, rising dev team stars Katie Estabrook (3 seat) and Layla Sisca (2 seat) and seasoned bow Norah Surette rounded out the crew that is heading to Nationals for the second year in a row! The crew proved to race well with competition lined up next to them as they went from a 5th place finish in the time trial on Saturday to a 2nd place finish in the grand final on Sunday. Great work motivating the crew, Allison! Speaking of Nationals bound, the U17 quad is also heading the big race! With Leighton Busby in stroke the crew dominated this weekend. The U17 4x earned a bronze medal at the end of the Regional Championship. This boat was a force with Tanaya Dixit supporting Leighton in stern pair, and Christina Charnin and Katherine Wartels in bow pair. We are so proud of you girls and cannot wait to see you race your hearts out at Nationals! You can do anything you set your mind to.

The U17 8+ was coxed by the youngest of the Khamish sisters, Mishi and stroked by Alexandra Maniatty, 7 seat Sophia Kearns, 6 seat Camilla Calderwood, 5 seat Charlotte Reynolds, 4 seat Catherine Parent, 3 seat Sienna Hoyos, 2 seat Sara Alfieri and bow seat Kristina Prasens. Roughly half of the boat is in their first year or rowing/racing so to race in this advanced category was a big ask but they stepped up to the plate. The crew earned a bronze medal this weekend, in addition to a ton of racing experience! We cannot wait to see how great this group of young rowers will continue to do in our sport, their future is bright. The Women’s youth 2nd 4+ had a strong weekend! 4 seat Melaina Kenin, 3 seat Layla Morris, 2 seat Lucia Noecker and bow seat Gwyneth Horn beat The Winsor School in the grand final whom they had got 2nd place to in the heat race. Melaina led her crew to a 12 second lead in the final against Windsor after loosing to them by 3 seconds in the time trail. WOW! What a way to cross the finish line.

Coach Sweitzer did an amazing job training his novice 8+ girls this season! The 8+ was coxed by Mishi Khamish, stroke Leelee Alix, 7 seat Lauren Ring, 6 seat Camilla Calderwood, 5 seat Sophia Kearns, 4 seat Charlotte Reynolds, 3 seat Sienna Hoyos, 2 seat Caitlyn Getty, and bow seat Emily Barnes. The 8+ had a second place finish in their heat miles ahead of their competitors. In the grand final they finished 5th place, racing against crews that had qualified from other heats. Rounding out the Novice category, the team was represented in the double category by Kristina Prasens and Sara Alfieri. The girls finished with the fastest time in their category on Saturday and on Sunday they finished 5th overall. The double was extremely fun to watch and cheer for and we are sure that they will continue to practice in their small boats this summer and be ready for a Nationals placement next year! Practice makes perfect for sure!

We are proud of all boats and extend an extra congratulations to our Regional Champions in the 2V 4x, Novice 4+,Varsity 4-, Varsity 2- and bronze place finisher U17 8+. CBC is heading to Nationals and we hope that you tune in to cheer for us! #goCBC

CBC’s Class of 2024 has left their mark on the Norwalk River! The 14 seniors are wrapping up their high school careers and setting sail on their collegiate careers. In this year’s graduating class we have 4 sets of girls that will be going to the same college! All of the girls will be staying on the east coast with exception of Maddy in California, which means the girls can easily visit each other and their forever home, CBC.

For Darien High School Class President, Charlotte Volz, Boston College (BC) was her dream school! She was so sure she did an Early Decision and heard back quickly in December. Boston is a city that she loves coupled with an amazing nursing program which is the field of study she plans on pursuing. Volz expressed her excitement for all things BC including a highlight, spending 4 years with one of her best friends, Callaghan. Callaghan Nickerson had a lengthy college process but Boston is where she had her heart set and she couldn’t be more excited that she landed right where she wanted to be. Nickerson commented, “The rowing team is amazing, I can’t wait to do the sport that I love in a place that I love, getting a great education all at the same time!” Right across the Charles River Charlotte and Callaghan will find their other best friend, Ava Weneck. Ava will join many of CBC’s alums on the Harvard University list of grads! She is also in awe with the city of Boston and loves that she will be able to pursue her major in STEM. Only 30 minutes away from the City of Boston, Elle Arnold will be calling Holy Cross her new home. She has been dreaming of going to Holy Cross since she was a little girl. Elle shared that she enjoyed meeting the rowing coach and hearing how fond she was of Liz Trond was really helpful in making her ultimate decision.

What is the closest major city to Hanover, New Hampshire? Boston! Which means that Annika Nelson and Caroline Krantz are a short car ride away from reuniting with close friends at any time. Well, that is when they aren’t racing or training on the weekends. The Krantz and Nelson duo is riding together for another 4 years and boy are they excited! Annika is excited to be a part of the Dartmouth Rowing Team’s evolution and bring her CBC and USA Team experience to the team. Over in Ithaca New York, Darien High School teammate, Riley Cavanna will be attending Cornell University (Early Decisioned as well). Cavanna is proud to be following in her older sister’s footsteps and overlapping at Cornell together for 2 years.

Down in the city that never sleeps, Ellie Lennon will be found on the Engineering Campus at New York University (NYU)! Ellie is confident that she will be happy in the big apple as she knew very clearly that she wanted to spend her collegiate years in a major city. On a short Amtrak train ride Ellie can head to Philly and visit her best friend, Lila Seidenberg at Drexel University. Similar to Ellie, Lila is also looking forward to being in a big city and seeing the opportunities that it can provide for her. Seidenberg has her eyes set on exploring the world and experiencing many adventures. Drexel was her perfect fit as she learned through touring and meeting with rowing coaches.

Goodbye to the Northeast and hello sunshine state! Darien High School best friends, Audrey Sears and Charlotte Maschoff are heading south in August. The University of Miami rowing team will be joined by two powerhouses for the next 4 years. Sears found the Umiami campus to be absolutely gorgeous and the coaching staff was super welcoming. Maschoff is super excited to be enrolling in the Business School and overall looking forward to new experiences and friends.

Time to change the time zone, eat cheese and wear red! Any guesses where two of our seniors are heading? That’s right, University of Wisconsin has two new Badgers, Miya Lee and Sylvia Freidenrich. Miya expressed her excitement behind the size of the lightweight team at Wisconsin, “It’s rare and it was one of the biggest factors in my decision!” Lee is also excited for the size of the school and the amount of spirit that it comes with. Sylvia Freidenrich committed to University of Wisconsin what feels like many moons ago and is thrilled to be pursuing her major in physiology. She is the youngest of three siblings but will be setting her path forward in Madison on a great campus and with a great rowing team.

Historically, CBC has many seniors heading out west for their college years but this year we have one special girl heading there, Maddy Dodge! Stanford University home of the Cardinals will now be home for Maddy. She found a great balance at Stanford for academics and athletics. Dodge smiled big when sharing that she loves that she can row year round and can chose to individually design her major.

Four major cities Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Miami…yes you read that correctly! All 14 seniors are living their dream and we couldn’t be more proud/happy for them. They are wonderful young ladies, smart, fit, kind and caring of others. Congrats Class of 2024!

The CBC girls traveled to Saratoga New York on Friday April 26th to compete in the Saratoga Invitational 2 day regatta (April 27-28). This is the last regular season regatta before the Regional Championship Regatta the weekend of May 17th. This years Saratoga Invitational received an exciting 999 boat entries!

Podium Placements:

• Novice 4x 3rd place
• Varsity 1x 2nd place
• Varsity 4+ 1st place
• U17 4+ 3rd place
• 2V 4+ 5th place
• 2V 4x B boat 2nd place
• 2V 4x A boat 1st place
• Novice 8+ 3rd place
• Varsity 2x 6th place
• Middle School 4x+ 1st place
• Varsity 4x 1st place
• U17 4x 2nd place
• Varsity 8+ 5th place
• 2V 8+ 6th place
• 3V 8+ 3rd place
• 4V 8+ 7th place
• Varsity 2- 1st place
• Varsity 4- 1st place

What a great racing weekend! We are so proud of our team and cannot wait for Regionals in a few short weeks!

The Connecticut Boat Club girls took on windy West Windsor New Jersey this weekend. The team raced in The Mercer Lake Sprints 2 day long regatta and came home with some hardware early in the weekend. For the novices it was the first ‘real’ regatta following some scrimmages earlier in the season but they proved to know exactly what they were doing. Mishi Khamish lined her Novice 8+ boat and raced hometown river neighbor, Maritime Rowing Club down the course. Her rowers were fearless and took the lead finishing with a large gap of 5 seconds ahead and a second place finish in her heat. This 8+ was stroked by Layla Sisca, Wilton Junior Lauren Ring (7 seat), Camilla Calderwood (6 seat), Emily Barnes (5 seat), Caitlyn Getty (4 seat), Sienna Hoyos (3 seat), Charlotte Reynolds (2 seat) and Noelle Basta in bow!

Layla Sisca also stroked our Novice 4+ where she was supported by a boat of 16 year old teammates, Katie Estabrook in 3 seat, Alexandria Maniatty in 2 seat and Sophia Kearns in bow. AJ Kompiewska, Norwalk High School Junior steered the girls to victory (spoiler alert!) in her first season at CBC. AJ, former rower herself transitioned to take the wheel after a back injury in the winter with her former club. In this race, her boat finished with the fastest time in the event: 7:23.25 meaning that second place time held by Row America Rye was 7:30.99 and Greenwich Crew was 7:31.27. The girls enjoyed the racing experience and certainly learned a ton about what it takes to win.

CBC raced a third novice event, Novice quad which is an event where the bow seat does the rowers job plus the coxswains job (as there is no physical coxswain in this category). As racing conditions weren’t ideal, the novice quad stroked by Melaina Kenin, 3 seat Gwen Horn, 2 seat Layla Sisca, and bow seat Holly Hulme. There were 3 heats for this category on Saturday. CBC’s Novice 4x came in 4th in their heat and overall had a faster time than 4 other crews in the category!

The racing continued to the Varsity boats, starting with the Varsity 8+ race. Coxswain Izzy Khamish led her crew down a great heat on Saturday, finishing 2nd in their heat! The finals race for this boat was on Sunday where Senior leader Callaghan Nickerson stroked, supported by Caroline Krantz (7 seat), Annika Nelson (6 seat), Sophie Bell (5 seat), Charlotte Maschoff (4 seat), Lila Seidenberg (3 seat), Audrey Sears (2 seat), and Ava Weneck (bow seat) competed in the A final battling down the course in a seat for seat race with PNRA Mercer. CBC lost the battle by 1 second but had a great performance!

CBC 2V8+ coxed by Freshman Allison Murray had some tricks up their sleeve. On Saturday they gave the fans a lot to cheer about with their 1st place finish in their heat and then on Sunday they also battled PNRA Mercer closely down the course but took the lead in front of them finishing with a time of 7:04.62 and PNRA Mercer with a time of 7:06.15. This crew is a great mix of upperclassman and younger girls all learning and improving each day! The line up was, Iso McCoy (8 seat), Miya Lee (7 seat), Maddy Dodge (6 seat), Sylvia Freidenrich (5 seat), Ellie Lennon (4 seat), El Arnold (3 seat), Reagan Weneck (2 seat) and Charlotte Mickelborough (bow seat).

Caroline Krantz and Callaghan Nickerson both led the Varsity 4+ this weekend. Callaghan stroked the 4+ in the heat to a first place finish, securing the boat to compete in the A final on Sunday! The stern 4 of the V8+ raced the final with Krantz at stroke and had a strong race in lane 5, in close contact with second place finisher Saugatuck and ahead of Greenwich Crew, Blair, Whitemarsh Boat Club. The U17 quad gained a lot of racing experience in their first time down the course together, Tanaya Dixit (4 seat), Christina Chernin (3 seat), Nicole Busby (2 seat), Katherine Martel’s (bow seat) finished with a time of 8:10.80. Connecticut’s 2V4+ came in with a 3rd place finish ahead of Whitemarsh Boat Club, Lawrenceville, and Litchfield Hills.

The womens Varsity quad event was one of CBC’s strongest this weekend. In their heat, Lila (stroke), Reagan (3 seat), Ava (2 seat) and Charlotte (bow) dominated with a 3 second lead on 2nd place finisher, Narragansett. Securing their invitation to the A final on Sunday, they had a thrilling race to wrap up this event! The crew worked hard for their silver medals (1 second off from being gold medals!) against some very strong sculling programs. 3 seat Reagan shared, “This race was thrilling and a very rewarding experience! Despite the far from ideal rowing conditions, my crew had a terrific race as we had a strong start, and walked through a boat directly to the left of us, securing the second place spot in an extremely close sprint to the finish. It was so much fun to race that boat collectively with some of my closest friends, and my sister right behind me!”

On Sunday in a final only race, the pairs at CBC represented the club well! Callaghan Nickerson and Sophie Bell kicked off the day for the River Rats by finishing 3rd in their heat, a healthy 4 second gap between 4th place finisher, Whitemarsh Boat Club. In the last heat CBC had the other half of the winning Head of the Charles crew, Caroline Krantz and Annika Nelson who finished first in their heat and won a gold medal for having the fastest time amongst everyone in the event!

Next up was the Varsity 4- race where senior leader and Class President, Charlotte Volz stroked the boat to a 2nd place finish! She was supported by CBC Captain Charlotte Maschoff, Ellie Lennon and Miya Lee. Miya commented, “We had a solid start and were within the top 3 right away. We kept our composure through the rocky cross-trail wind and wake. Everyone in my boat stepped up to the task of supporting each other and moving the dial during this race.”

Wrapping up the racing on Sunday, the girls raced in 2 final events (I mean no surprise they raced in 97% of all female events this weekend!) Jiah coxed the U17 8+ boat to a 3rd place finish! The racing conditions were not conditions that the team experiences much on the Norwalk River but regardless, they rose to the challenge and competed. The crew finished 10 seconds ahead of Row New Jersey and 14 seconds ahead of Saugatuck Rowing Club. The 2V 2x race was another great experience for the team as the crew finished 3rd in their heat (3 seconds off of 2nd place finisher) ahead of hometown river neighbors, Maritime Rowing and Norwalk River Rowing.

Congratulations to all crews! CBC is excited to race again this upcoming weekend at The Saratoga Invitational!