2024 HEAD OF THE CHARLES RECAP
Stanford showed up in big numbers at the 2024 Head of the Charles. Over 45 rowers, both alumni and current students, competed in 13 races.
Stanford women had two crews in the Women’s Alumni event. Stanford assembled a strong W8+, with multiple past and present Olympians and National Team members. Across a 16–minute race, Openweight alumni placed first overall, with a less than half a second victory over the Texas alumnae boat. Lightweight alumni placed a strong 24th among a mostly openweight field. Congrats to such a strong showing for our alumni listed below.
Note that in a head race bow numbers reflect the prior’s year’s HOCR performance. For the Lightweight alumni crew, the jump from bow #42 to a 24th place means the crew passed at least one other boat. Passing on the HOCR course, especially for an 8+, entails bold coxing and skillful steering.
Women’s Openweight (bow #2, placed 1st):
C: Leigh Warner ‘18
8: Azja Czajkowski ‘23
7: Isabella Battistoni ‘24
6: Kaitlyn Kynast ‘22
5: Emily Delleman ‘20
4: Alison Rusher ‘16
3: Erin Barry ‘19
2: Christine Cavallo ‘17
1: Chase Shepley ‘19
Women’s Lightweight (bow #42, placed 24th):
C: Lydia Garnett ‘24
8: Kate Hickey ‘20
7: Emily Molins ‘24
6: Michele Holtkamp ‘20
5: Brigitte Schmittlein ‘20
4: Ally Hinson ‘19
3: Lauren Howe ‘24
2: Annika Khouri ‘23
1: Mikayla Chen ‘24
The Stanford Men also entered a M8+ of recent alums, including Paris Olympics bronze medalist Peter Chatain ‘23.
Men’s Alumni Eights (bow #32, placed 27th)
C: Varun Subramaniam ‘21
8: Nicholas Mayhew ‘22
7: Ryan Cardiff ‘20
6: Henry Stewart ‘23
5: Peter Chatain ‘23
4: Tyler Baumann ‘22
3: Porter Weisberg ‘23
2: John Spencer ‘21
1: Paul Gorka ‘22
Our Lightweight Women entered the lone Stanford collegiate boat in the regatta. As an early season race on an unfamiliar winding course the team faced a good test against its IRA competitors. An effective strategy to win is to take tight turns wherever possible. This year, pursuing that strategy unfortunately led to the Lightweight Women catching some oars in a buoy line, bringing the boat to a complete stop. As Coach Houston points out in her fall recap, the team showed a lot of resilience and determination to finish the race strong despite this major setback.
Women’s Lightweight Eights (bow #7, placed 7th)
C: Marrisa Chow
8: Lauren Koester
7: Juliette Lermusiaux
6: Brooke Ruszkiewicz
5: Brooke Legenzowski
4: Eliana Rosenfeld
3: Grace Padula
2: Jordan Stock
1: Campbell McClellan
Stanford alums showed well in masters’ events. This included two entries from the legendary Twin Donut Boat Club (founded by Greg Klingsporn ‘92 and his twin brother Geoff). Greg’s boat got a little aggressive with the turns and was assessed a small 15s penalty for missing a buoy – not a lot of time, but it did up their placing by one spot!
Men's Senior Master Doubles (50+)
7th – Twin Donut – Greg Klingsporn ’92
20th – Twin Donut – Jason Stinson ‘90 and Matt Dalva ‘90
Stanford even had representation among the Head of the Charles officiating. Sam Chang ’05, was reportedly an umpire at the event. (Maybe team Twin Donut should have sent him a baker’s dozen to avoid that pesky penalty!)
Zander Packard ’92 also led the field with most races – both within four hours of each other – doing both a quad and parent/child double with his daughter Avery.
Directors' Challenge Men's Quads
13th – Cambridge Boat Club – Zander Packard ‘92
Directors' Challenge Parent/Child Doubles
18th – Cambridge Boat Club – Zander Packard ‘92
Men’s Master Fours (40+)
3rd – Sammamish Rowing Association – Michael English ’00
For the Openweight Women, Esther Briz Zamorano ’22 competed in the Director’s Challenge Mixed Doubles event (after competing in the W2- in the Olympics for Spain) placing 3rd overall!
Men’s Masters 8+
Matt Altman ’04 sat in the 4-seat of Marin Rowing Masters 8+ that placed 2nd
Directors' Challenge Mixed Doubles
3rd – Raspas del Embarcadero – Esther Briz Zamorano ‘22
For alums racing in singles, Bonnie Baker Pohlig ’92 and Sherman Knight ’94 competed in Grand Master 1x events. Sherman’s bow number was quite a bit higher than his placing, which must have made for some interesting passing!
Women's Grand Master/Veteran Singles
16th – Community Rowing Inc. – Bonnie Baker Pohlig ’92 (bow #18)
Men's Grand Master/Veteran Singles
39th – Potomac Boat Club – Sherman Knight ’94 (bow #66)
One of Stanford’s most successful Olympians, Adam Kreek ’07, (M8+ Gold for Team Canada, 2008 Beijing Olympics), rowed for both Oar Board SUP as well as the Ex Nemo rowing club in the Men’s Master Fours.
Men's Master Fours
13th – Ex Nemo Boat Club – Adam Kreek ‘07
For alums just a little bit older, Steve Johnston ‘85 stroked his Men’s Grand Masters M4+ with Marin Rowing Association to a strong 5th place finish.
Men’s Grand Master Fours
5th – Marin Rowing Association – Steve Johnston ‘85
Three progeny of Stanford rowers also raced in the HOCR. Class of ‘90 Becky Schroeder’s son, Bradley Edington (Dartmouth lights); Class of ‘90 Jason Stinson’s daughter, Olivia Stinson (MIT lights); and Class of ‘92 Zander Packard’s daughter Avery Packard (Duke) raced in a double with her dad.
GO STANFORD ROWING!
