Simsbury Crew Has Strong Showing at Head of the Fish Regatta

Simsbury Crew rowed well in the rain at the Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, New York on October 28. Simsbury entered four boys’ boats and four girls’ boats in the regatta, racing against competitors from New England, New York, New Jersey, and Canada.

The Novice Boys started the morning for Simsbury, rowing an outstanding race, finishing 12th out of 32 boats in only their second race of the season. Finishing the 3300-meter course in 13:0.40 were Alex Picoult (coxswain), Simon Green, Jason Sherry, Josh Phillips, Parker Zeller, Matthew Dacey, Noah Paradise, Jack Williams, and Jack Galt. The novice boys are coached by Jenna Nalband.

Also placing in the top half in their races were the girls first and second varsity boats. The girls first varsity boat, coached by Ann Carabillo, finished 16th out of 35 crews with a time of 12:44.89, with Maddie Dempsey, Jess Serra, Emily Langin, Millie Malloy, Abby Hammel, Kyra Sanborn-Burch, Lucy O'Sullivan, Izabella Kuczorski, and Christopher Norwell (coxswain). The girls second varsity crew rowed to an 11th place finish in their race with a time of 13:33.68. Julia Sica, Elena Marchetti, Gillian Forsberg, Morgan deGroot, Marissa Phillips, Paige Malloy, Stella Perdikis, Olivia Romanowsky, and Olivia May (coxswain) are coached by Paul Carabillo.

As the headwind picked up for the afternoon, the boys first varsity boat also turned in a solid performance for Simsbury, placing 17th out of 33 boats in the Boys Junior 1V Eight 8+ race. Finishing in a time of 11:48.32 were Will Dempsey, Adam Stine, Wyatt Jacobson, Ethan Boyd, James Hammel, John Cody, Elias Hanna, Chris Harvill, and Joe Bogdan (coxswain), coached by Ann Carabillo.

The remaining Simsbury crews also had strong performances, with the third girls boat finishing in 14:28.83, the second boys boat in 13:12.89, third boys in 13:44.62, and novice girls in 16:0.94.

The head of the Fish is one of the largest regattas in the country, drawing close to 160 teams and 2000 boats over a two-day period. The Junior division, in which Simsbury competes, draws entries from rowing clubs as well as private and public high schools, fostering a high level of competition for the athletes.

For more information about the Simsbury Crew program, visit www.simsburycrew.org.

Photo credits: Brian Phillips