Norwalk rowing program wins Gold at 54th Head of the Charles

Four local area high school seniors rowing along with one junior as coxswain, won gold last weekend at the 54th annual Head of the Charles for the NC Crew/Maritime Rowing Club program based in South Norwalk. This is the same event that netted a gold for the team last year as well.

The club draws rowers from 14 local towns and 23 high schools due to the strength of renowned head coach Yan Vengerovskiy, and more recently, former Olympic winner Dan Walsh who joined the team as the High Performance coach this past year. Dan is one of 3 Olympians to have emerged from the local club. All 3 got their start as high school rowers at the club.

Yesterday, the club had a total of 9 high school boats competing in the 54th Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR).

James Hilton (King School ), William Kynast (Ridgefield HS), Tim Cone (DarienHS ), J.C Sanzone (St. Joseph’s ), coxed by Carly Legenzowski (JohnJayHS’20), crossed the finish almost 11 seconds faster then the next nearest competitor in the Coxed Quad event to win the gold on the notoriously difficult 3 mile course.

The renowned race is upstream through 6 bridges and numerous turns on the Charles River in Boston. A cold and blustery day in the 40s meant the rowers had to contend with differing wind direction at every turn, so both power and steering were crucial to the win.

With over 11,000 athletes in 2,308 boats competing in 63 events at the HOCR, it is the largest rowing regatta in the world. It is a head race, meaning that boats start the 3 mile course at 15 second intervals, with the fastest times overall medaling.

Pictured: Sanzone, Hilton, Legenzowski, Kynast, Cone, Vengerovskiy