CBC sisters, Mia Khamish (Duke University Sophomore) and Izzy Khamish (Staples High School Junior) both won gold medals at the 2023 Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Massachusetts. The Head of the Charles is the largest regatta in the world and it is a complete obstacle course for all competitors. Both Mia and Izzy are coxswains (the position in the boat that steers and gives the crew instruction) in their respective programs but both athletes have been a product of Connecticut Boat Club and the coaching/mentorship of Liz Trond.

On Saturday October 22nd Mia Khamish and her Duke 4+ crew crossed the finish line with a time of 17:46 (winning the race!). Her boat finished with a very large gap of 15 seconds ahead of silver medalist, Radcliffe and 27 seconds ahead of bronze medalist UPenn. Mia shared her thoughts, “The moment after the race finished I knew we had a really strong race because we passed about 10 boats, but I didn’t know we had won. I kind of gave my boat a little talk before going in to the dock assuring them that no matter the result, that we had done well and I was proud of them.” Coach Wendy was the one to share the first place news with the Duke Champ 4+ and their reaction was of utter shock and happiness. Additionally, they found out that they had set the new course record in the Women’s Club Four category which is an incredible asset in addition to winning a first place gold medal.

Mia had only raced the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta once before. She raced the course her senior year with Connecticut Boat Club where her boat started 17th and finished in 6th place. This time around with Duke University her Sophomore year she started bow 25th, passed roughly 10 boats to finish in first place. Following in her sisters Saturday success, younger sister Izzy Khamish took on the challenging course on Sunday October 23rd. Mia knew what an important race this would be for her sister so she decided to stay an extra day to watch her race. Mia stated, “Oh my gosh it was so cool to stay and watch Izzy. I remember asking my mom (Rimma Khamish) if it would be okay to stay another day because I knew they had a chance of winning the race and I wanted to be there to watch it. I was honestly so much more nervous for her race then my race.” Izzy Khamish is one of the Varsity Coxswains at CBC, she steered the perfect Head of the Charles course and led her Youth Women’s 4+ to a first place victory. The four rowers in Izzy’s boat raced this race/same line up last year and placed 4th place. This year in Izzy’s second time racing The Charles she earned her way into CBC’s top boat as the new addition. Izzy shared, “Winning The Charles is incredible! It was great to see our dedicated efforts pay off. I recognize that winning The Charles is a once in a lifetime experience, and doing so in high school with CBC is very special!” Izzy added her opinion on the standout moment in the race for her, “I would say near the end on the turn before the Elliot Bridge. We had overtaken bow numbers 2 and 3 and had secured in the inside line on all turns. taking the turn tight into Elliot while calling that we were closing in on bow 1 and our average split getting faster was an exhilarating feeling. I knew we had a very possible chance of winning if we went for it in the last mile.” Izzy’s boat finished with a time of 19:12 after starting fourth. Second place medalist, Greenwich Crew finished with a time of 19:26 and third place finisher, Phillips Exeter finished with a time of 19:31.

Mia raced against 50 crews in the Women’s Club Fours event and Izzy raced against 90 crews in the Women’s Youth Fours event. Mia stated with excitement, “I mean I don’t know two sisters in two different boat categories winning the Charles the same year, so I guess it adds to our life motto of ‘we don’t lose’.” It truly is a time to celebrate for both boats, their families who support through all of the season ups and downs, and all of the teammates because it truly takes a village to win at this level!

HUGE congratulations to CBC superstars, Izzy and Mia! We are so proud of you and cannot wait for next year, we vote for a 2 peat!

From high school teammates to USA National Team teammates to college teammates! Darien High School’s Annika Nelson and Caroline Krantz are heading to New Hampshire together! The dynamic duo will finish their high school rowing career at Connecticut Boat Club and then start their collegiate journey at Dartmouth College. One of the highlights of their high school career took place the summer of 2023 when Nelson and Krantz had the honor of representing Team USA at the Junior World Rowing Championship in Paris, France. “Rowing and racing at the World Championships felt incredibly different then it normally does racing at home. Being surrounded by the best U19 athletes in the world, the level of competition was unparalleled which created an exciting energy amongst all athletes. Each athlete from all nations had so much respect for each other as every athlete had a relatively similar experience in the grit, sacrifices, and hard work it took to get there” Caroline stated as she reflected on the summer.

The pair kicked off the racing in Paris with a 3rd place finish in their heat. Nelson commented,”Our heat was extremely competitive- even though it wasn’t our best race, we were happy with third place, given the crews that finished first and second in the A final as well.” She continued, “Our reps race was very fun. We went in feeling more prepared after having one race under our belt already, and we brought our energy with us down the entire course, pulling ahead of all other boats.” The pair won their repechage with a time of 7:35.75, nearly 5 seconds ahead of Italy and nearly 13 seconds ahead of Spain. Krantz shared, “One of Annika and I’s signature pre-race rituals is a special hand squeeze we created. at the start line right before every race, when the nerves are at their highest, a simple hand squeeze reminds both of us that we are in this together.”

“All Sunday races were cancelled due to wind, we raced our A/B semi Saturday morning, with our B final race only a couple hours later. We started our semifinal race in 5th place, and began to walk on Austria and Germany in the final 500 meters, which was very exciting. We didn’t catch Germany, and missed the A final by a second, but we beat Austria in just our last few strokes of the race. I had never experienced a sprint as intense as the ones in our semifinal and final races” Annika Nelson described. Caroline and Annika raced proudly in the B final representing the US Team, finishing with a time of 7:54.94 placing 9th in the world!

After the spring 2024 season with CBC, Krantz and Nelson will officially be Dartmouth bound! Caroline was asked, did you and Annika both want to go to Dartmouth together? to which she answered, “People always ask us if we ‘committed together’ or were a ‘package deal’ but quite frankly, it was pretty much a complete coincidence that we both ended up committing to Dartmouth. We didn’t know we were going on the same official visit but we both ended up falling in love with the school and rowing program there. I really am so excited to spend another four years with Annika-we have such a great connection not only in the boat but off the water as we have become one of each others best friends!” Nelson shared the same excitement as Krantz and added, “I chose Dartmouth because I saw the team is looking to build, and I think improving as a team and being a part of accomplishing goals for the first time is very exciting and a great source of motivation.”

Both athletes have learned a lot from the sport and from each other. They have had to sacrifice and devote themselves whole heartily to achieve the level of success of today. Training for worlds taught them when you set goals and remain disciplined, goals can be achieved. CBC teammates and coaching staff are so proud of both Annika and Caroline. They are sure to be a duo to look out for in their collegiate racing years! New CBC generations will absolutely know the stories of Krantz and Nelson, as they have left an incredible mark on program history.

This year’s Head of the Fish regatta brought 12 medals for Connecticut Boat Club, youth girls rowing team! Many of the CBC athletes raced multiple times throughout the weekend. It was a weekend to remember as the girls made CBC history by medaling in 12 events, of which it was the first time the team medaled in the quad and in the double. It was also the first time that CBC brought home a first place win in the single sculler event. Annika Nelson will be a name we never forget as she finished the race with a time of 15:37 ahead of second place by 5 seconds. Nelson raced against 40 other single scullers including some of her CBC peers. All CBC boats performed great and all coaches and teammates were so proud of all the single scullers. Nelson commented with excitement, “The race was super fun! It was definitely a surprise to win, since I don’t spend much time in a single. The only other time I’ve raced a single was last year at The Head of the Fish, so I knew the course and what to expect. I started 6th and was able to pass 3 boats, which kept the race exciting. I loved being able to switch it up and try an event I’m not used to!”

CBC medaled in the following events:

Varsity Single– Gold Medal

Middle School Coxed Quad– Silver Medal

Varsity Eight: Bronze Medal

Second Varsity Eight: Bronze Medal

Varsity Quad: Bronze Medal

Second Varsity Quad: Silver Medal

Varsity Four with Coxswain: Silver Medal

Second Varsity Four with Coxswain: Silver Medal

U16 Eight: Bronze Medal

Varsity Double: Bronze Medal

Novice Four with Coxswain: Bronze Medal

Varsity Quad with Coxswain: Bronze Medal

Team Captain, Charlotte Maschoff shared how she felt the team performed this weekend, “This weekend was an example of the hard work and dedication each member of the team has been putting towards this sport. After a long Fall Season our team was able to work together and put their efforts towards helping each other do their best.” It certainly was a great way to end the ‘All Team’ racing season at Connecticut Boat Club. The team is gearing up for the final race of the season in California and then will beginning Winter Training indoors.

Dreams do come true! On Sunday October 22, 2023 Norwalk River based Women’s rowing team, Connecticut Boat Club won their second Head of the Charles first place trophy. The first gold medal win for the team was in the Fall of 2011 with a strong Women’s Youth 4+. This year the club raced four boats in a variety of categories, of which winning the prestigious first place trophy in the Women’s Youth Four’s category.

Women’s Youth Four A Boat: Bow 4 finished in 1st place (90 boats raced)

Women’s Youth Four B Boat: Bow 70 finished in 21st place (90 boats raced)

Women’s Youth Coxed Quad: Bow 31 finished in 10th place (50 boats raced)

Women’s Under 17 Four: Bow 6 finished in 22nd place- due to a penalty (26 boats raced)

Assistant Coach, Cass Bruins shared her thoughts on the day, “All of the HOCR crews truly exceeded expectations. They trained hard, and came together to put up the best races they possibly could have- and I’m super proud of them. Having two young Novice coxswains was daunting going in, but they (and the Varsity coxswains) executed the course beautifully. I’m stoked to say that CBC’s competitive dial was turned up a few notches this weekend, and it’s going to continue to do so as the year progresses.”

It is unique to race the same line up two years in a row, but that is what CBC did in the 4+ A boat. Callaghan Nickerson (stroke seat), Caroline Krantz (3 seat), Annika Nelson (2 seat), and Sophie Bell (bow seat) returned with a mission to win the Head of the Charles after placing 4th place last year. The 4 athletes shared, “We have worked all year on accomplishing this goal. We were always reminded that this would be our last time racing HOCR together and that was our biggest motivation. Crossing the finishing line we felt joy and excitement. We knew we did well because we passed two crews in the first mile but we didn’t know we won. When we found out we won we felt nothing but happiness and a sense of accomplishment, what we had dreamed of and worked so hard for payed off.” The crew won the race by 14 seconds and competed against 89 other crews.

The gold medalists raved about their fearless coxswain, Izzy Khamish (11th grade Varsity Coxswain). “Izzy kept us in the perfect line to get us ahead. Each call she made about walking on the boats got us more motivated. There was a lot of pressure on Izzy the entire race but at one bridge there were three boats approaching and Izzy communicated to us that we had to make a move now and of course we responded well to that.”

CBC’s 4+ B boat had an incredible race as well. Starting Bow 70 and caught up to Bow 62 (passing 5 boats). Ava Weneck senior leader (2 seat of the boat) expressed what an incredible race it was from start to finish. The boat also consisted of Sylvia Freidenrich another strong powerhouse senior leader sat in 3 seat, Junior leaders, Isobel McCoy stroked the boat and Charlotte Mickelborough bowed the 4+. Allison Murray (Varsity Coxswain) dominated the course in her first time down the Charles River!

Jillian Chlebowski, Varsity Coxswain steered the 10th place finish for CBC’s Coxed Quad event. Chlebowski commented, “This was my second time racing The Charles, starting in the second half almost helped our boat out more because we had more boats to look forward to and to hunt down throughout the race. We passed 3 boats on the course and closed in on the 4th boat in the final sprint. Crossing the finish line was so great and I could tell that everyone had worked the hardest that they could’ve, it wasn’t perfect but every rower gave it all they had.” This all senior boat was coxed by Jillian, stroked by Audrey Sears, Charlotte Maschoff in 3 seat, Maddy Dodge in 2 seat and bowed by Miya Lee.

Connecticut Boat Club’s final race of the day was the U17 coxed four. Jiah Baak (coxswain), Layla Sisca (stroke), Norah Surette (3 seat), Reagan Weneck (2 seat) and Leighton Busby (bow seat) took on this fun and challenging category. “I’m a high school freshman and it was my first time racing The Charles”, said Leighton Busby. She continued, “The traffic on the river was crazy. We were a little shaken because earlier in the race we were gaining on a boat and as we passed, our oars clashed badly and cost us some speed. When we came off the water we regained our confidence after talking to Coach Liz about the race and the experience.”

It was a day to remember in CBC history. Head Coach, Liz Trond leads an elite level team. CBC is looking forward to next year’s 59th Head of the Charles race. Interested in learning more about CBC and rowing in general? Please visit our website for more information: ctboatclub.org

After winning Northeast Regionals and USRowing Nationals, the CBC pair had the opportunity to participate in a National Team trial event allowing them to earn their spot in the U19 World Rowing Championships. The dynamic duo, Annika Nelson (bow) and Caroline Krantz (stroke) took the trial by storm. The pair finished their National Team trial with a speedy time of 7:35 (they won Nationals by open water with a time of 7:46). Nelson shared, “Going into trials we were nervous and didn’t have high expectations because we knew our time from Nationals and that was very far off from the time standard that we needed to qualify for Junior World’s. In our Trial final we raced as hard as we could and surprised ourselves with what we were capable of and how well we could race. Even though it has been weeks, it is still setting in that we have qualified to go to Paris!”

This is the 20th consecutive summer that Liz Trond (CBC Head Coach) has put an athlete on the U19 World Rowing Championship Team. Trond has led an incredible career of coaching in Connecticut and continues to reach new heights for Women’s Rowing year after year. “Caroline and Annika have worked extremely hard with a really great attitude and a lot of fun over the past 4 years. They are truly a joy to coach and I can’t wait to coach them through the world championship” Trond expressed with excitement and honor. The Junior World Rowing Championship will be home to the test event for the 2024 Olympics. Trond has participated in the magic of Olympic test events in the past such as the one that took place in Rio de Janeiro.

Pair stroke, Caroline Krantz added, “We’ve been working so hard in the pair for the last year and a half, but also have had this dream since Novice year to get to where we are today. It didn’t feel real until we got to the dock after the time trial and Liz gave us a hug. We realize that this opportunity is incredible and we may never get this opportunity again so we are training really hard to represent CBC and USA in Paris.” Krantz holds duel citizenship with the United States and France, at the conclusion of her and Annika’s time trial she called her mom to share the news. “My mom started crying when I called her and shared that we qualified for World’s. My mom is a French immigrant and to have the opportunity to go back to the country that she is from as a strong American family, representing the United States means the world to her. This is a big moment for sure!”

Annika has always had aspirations of earning her seat on the National Team. The racing in Paris will be Annika’s first time racing overseas and she feels that it is even more special that she will get to race with Caroline as they have known each other each other since 5th grade.

We wish this hard-working pair the BEST of luck in Paris! Racing will take place from August 2-6.

#goCBC #goUSA

Congratulations are in order for the 12 CBC athletes that represented the club with tons of pride at the 2023 USRowing National Championship Regatta. The girls had 3 days full of racing, ice baths, laughs and Florida sunshine!

All three CBC boats (2-,4x,4x+) raced outstanding races in both their heat and semi final’s earning them a ticket to the A final (2-) and the B finals (4x, 4x+). Our U16 coxed quad kicked off finals racing on Saturday June 10th finishing 3rd in their B final (11th in the nation). It was all 5 athletes first trip to Nationals and we are so proud of them! Way to go Allison (coxswain), Kam (stroke seat), Winnie (3 seat), Norah (2 seat) and Leighton (bow seat).

On Sunday morning our 2- Caroline (stroke seat) and Annika (bow seat) became National Champions!! Winning the 2- category with a final time of 7:46 they officially were proclaimed undefeated on the Sarasota Nationals race course in 2023. This win marks the 11th USRowing National Championship that CBC has won. Huge congratulations to Caroline and Annika who practice/race with so much passion and dedication.

CBC’s 4x raced in an exciting photo finisher. The girls, Audrey (stroke seat), Charlotte (3 seat), Callaghan (2 seat) and Maddie (bow seat) raced in some of the weekend’s most thrilling races and their B final was no exception. The quad placed 6th (.7 seconds from 3rd place) in their final! This was the first regatta in which this line up had raced all season. We are so proud of how they demonstrated our CBC core values on and off the course all weekend.

Miya was our powerhouse spare, willing and capable of rowing both sweep and scull. She was an outstanding teammate and a tremendous part of the teams success! You are amazing Miya.

CBCers will head back to headquarters and gear up for summer 2023 rowing!

#GOCBC

Worchester Massachusetts hosted the Northeast Regional Championship this year. CBC raced in both sweep and sculling categories allowing for all athletes to have the opportunity to race! All CBC boats advanced to finals racing on Sunday where our pair, Caroline Krantz and Annika Nelson kicked off racing. Finishing in first place ahead of two Greenwich boats, Naugatuck, Wayland-Weston and Concord crews. This first place finished earned them an invitation to the Youth Nationals Championship!

Our coxed four had a strong race with a photo finish (Belle Howell, Callaghan Nickerson, Karolina Bukowski, Charlotte Maschoff, Ava Weneck). We were so proud of our senior leader, Belle for coxing the 4+ down the course and motivating her boat at all times. Later in the morning CBC qualified its second Nationals contenting boat the youth quad. The quad had a fantastic race finishing 1 second shy of 3rd place and 2 seconds away from 2nd place! It was a very exciting race to watch with Audrey Sears stroking, Riley Clavi, Ellie Lennon, and Maddie Dodge in bow. Our youth 4- had us all cheering very loudly in the last 250m as the girls were trying to pull ahead of the Westford Academy boat, and ultimately they successfully did! The 4- finished 5th ahead of Westford Academy after a great run down the course (Charlotte Volz, Sylvia Freidenrich, Sophie Bell and Miya Lee). 

Racing continued with our U16 4x+ (Coxswain: Allison Murray and Rowers: Winnie Wartels, Leighton Busby, Norah Surette, Kamryn Morgenstern) finishing 26 second ahead of the 4th place boat and just 5 seconds behind the second place finisher. The U16 4x+ will have the opportunity to represent CBC at The Youth National Championship Regatta! CBC’s Youth 2nd 4+ finished 5th in what was a very sunny race. The boat consisted of 2 seniors stroke seat Ally Colavecchio and Mel Royaee and 3 sophomores, Coxswain Izzy Khamish, Kate MacDonald and Charlotte Mickelborough.

CBC’s novice eight had an amazing semi final race on Saturday where they raced hard and learned a ton(including how to really sprint and walk on another boat)! On Sunday, they had another great race and ultimately finished with a time of 7:43. Allison Murray coxed the boat down the course. The eight rowers were, Jiah Baak, Tara Slovinski, Bridget Fitzgerald, Sara Alfieri, Melaina Kenin, Lucia Noecker, Kamryn Morgenstern, and Sarah Morris. As the racing started to wrap up it was our strong Youth 2nd 4x and Novice 4+ that concluded the racing for CBC! 

Elle Arnold, Lila Seidenberg, Erin Getty and Jill Chlebowski represented CBC in a finals race with a lot of enthusiasm. The girls 4x finished in 5th place. Our final race of the day was our Novice 4+ race with coxswain Jiah Baak leading the boat down the course! The 4 novice rowers were, Winnie Wartels, Melaina Kenin, Lucia Noecker and Norah Surette. In this race CBC finished in 5th place ahead of Saugatuck’s 4+. 

Congratulations to all of our student athletes for working so hard on and off the course this season!! We are so proud of you all!

BEST OF LUCK at Nationals to our pair, U16 coxed quad and youth quad.