FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Boathouse Row, Philadelphia, PA/April 27, 2010

Registration now open for the
40th anniversary Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta

Registration is now open for the 40th Head of the Schuylkill regatta, which will be held on Saturday, October 30th and Sunday, October 31st, 2010.

According to Lyman Perry, one of the original founders of the regatta, “the founding principle…a race for everyone who rows, makes it one of the most inclusive races in the fall season and includes adaptive, recreational and community rowing events.” The Regatta has grown to over 1200 crews made up of 5,300-plus rowers including newly minted rowers to Olympic champions. It’s free for spectators, who can watch from many beautiful locations on the river bank.

The schedule was changed slightly this year. On Saturday, races will be held for all collegiate boats, some open events, and masters’ eights and doubles. Sunday’s races include all high school events, and all remaining open and masters’ boats. Competitors can still enter multiple races, and the popular 2 boat side-by-side format will continue. In honor of its 40th anniversary, the Regatta will introduce four Trophy Points awards in four categories, High Schools, Colleges, Open and Masters.

For the second year, NSM Insurance Group is the presenting sponsor for the regatta and for the first time, AAA is the program book sponsor.

About the regatta
The Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta began in 1971 when members of the University Barge Club decided to offer rowers, of all ages, a congenial race on the historic Schuylkill River. The Regatta’s spirit of inclusion grew along with the size and scope of the event. At a time when only college crews competed in the fall “head” or distance races, the Head of the Schuylkill opened racing to emerging masters and veteran rowers.

About the Schuylkill Navy
Founded in 1858, the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United Sates. Today, the Schuylkill Navy comprises the clubs of Boathouse Row: Fairmount, Crescent, Bachelors, University, Malta, Vesper, College, Penn A.C., Undine, Barge, Philadelphia Girls’ and Gillian, the newest upriver members. In 2008, thousands celebrated the Schuylkill Navy’s 150th Anniversary. More information at www.boathouserow.org.

History of the Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta
By Peter Van Allen

Philadelphia is home of a large rowing community based around Boathouse Row, about a dozen historic boathouses on the Schuylkill. And the Head of the Schuylkill has been an integral part of that rowing community since 1971.

The Head of the Schuylkill, a 2.5-mile course, was started by members of University Barge Club, who wanted to build on the success of Boston’s Head of the Charles Regatta.

“Here’s the way it started,” said Lyman Perry, a former Olympic rower and member of the club’s executive committee. “There was a regatta at the time that was the Graduate Sculls Regatta. It wasn’t too successful, so we were sitting around the executive meeting trying to figure out what else we could do. At that time, the Head of the Charles was several years old [started in 1965]. We said, ‘Maybe we should model this on the Head of the Charles.’ Long races weren’t common then.”

In head races, competitors race the clock over a course typically 2 to 3 miles long — sometimes literally leading toward a river’s headwaters — compared to “sprint” races of 1000 to 2000 meters. Head races got started in England. While they are now a standard part of the fall racing season, at the time the Head of the Schuylkill was started there were very few in the United States.

In addition, races in the early 1970s typically featured just a few categories, mostly for elites, juniors and college rowers. Categories for masters, club racers, women and disabled rowers were not common.
The Head of the Schuylkill hoped to change that. A team including Perry, J. Pattison and Raul Betancourt went to work creating the regatta, relying heavily on the expertise of William M. Hollenbeck Jr., head of the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen (a predecessor to USRowing).

“We leaned on Bill for his experience and connections. He was very instrumental,” Perry recalled.
At the same time, the new effort required a lot of good, old fashioned grit.

“We weren’t sophisticated. We didn’t consult the Head of the Charles. We had rudimentary starting. We used milk cans and plastic jugs for buoys. We did everything ourselves,” said Perry, an architect and designer of the regatta’s early silkscreen posters. “It was really a seat-of-the-pants thing. We did the best we could.”

By the third year, the regatta tied itself to the works of Thomas Eakins, a Philadelphia painter internationally known for his works featuring scullers on the Schuylkill. In the early years, the Regatta promoted the Thomas Eakins House and race winners received limited edition solid silver Thomas Eakins medals, according to John Basinski, the regatta’s unofficial historian. Posters for the regatta featured a different Eakins painting each year.
“It took about 3 to 4 years for it to catch hold,” Perry said. Yet the regatta did indeed catch hold.

By 2005, the Regatta grew to 1,100 crews from all over the country. Events encompassed recreational, adaptive and community rowers, as well as colleges, high schools and masters rowers.

“The big word we really want is ‘inclusion,’” said Executive Director Christopher Blackwall, who took over leadership of the regatta in 1985.

By the middle of this decade, it was billed as “the world’s largest single-day rowing event.” Alas, it gave up those bragging rights so it could expand to two days. The change also allowed more flexibility in the case of bad weather, which forced cancellation of the 2006 and 2007 regattas.

To make the Head of the Schuylkill more enticing to out-of-town crews, this year’s event will include live music, parties and “legends” races.

“The hallmark of this year is different thinking,” said Blackwall. “A lot of new thinking how to change the regatta for the better.”

Peter Van Allen is a member of Malta Boat Club. He will be competing in the Mens Masters Single Sculls.

A Masters Guide to the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta
By Merrill Hilf

I highly doubt that God is a masters rower, because on the seventh day, we’ll be doing anything but resting! The Head of the Schuylkill Regatta has a long tradition in Philadelphia, and unlike another large head race in New England, you don’t have to live in Philly to feel welcome. Regatta organizers will even tell you where to park and not get a ticket!

Although the course has changed several times over the years, and the weather doesn’t always cooperate, the Schuylkill River provides an exciting venue for racing. This year’s regatta format is borrowing from two famous regattas. The Royal Henley regatta, in which boats of similar ability (we hope) are paired up at the start, and will slug it out to gain advantages on the turns of the course. And the other “famous” regatta being the Quaker City Regatta, whose theme is “race until your legs fall off”. This year, masters can enter as many races as they want, as long as they are still alive at the start. Medals will be given out to the top three boats in all events, and they will be presented in some sort of organized fashion. The course is usually buoyed well, and detailed course maps are given to all competitors.

As with any large regatta, the shopping will be plentiful, as vendors often want to get rid of their leftovers from that other big east coast regatta. HOS regatta t-shirts often have museum type art work (thanks to Thomas Eakins), and are different every year. Best of all, after you’ve spent all your money, and rowed yourself to exhaustion, you’ll still be able to afford an authentic Philly soft pretzel. Mustard is free. Have a great row!

Merrill Hilf is a physical therapist by day, and a masters rower before dawn. She writes for Row2k and the NK newsletter, and has rowed the Head of the Schuylkill numerous times and has the t-shirts to prove it. In her spare time, she is a masters swimmer, vegetable gardener, and enjoys fixing broken rowers when the need arises.

A Message from Ted Nash
September 1, 2009

Registration for the 2009 Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta closes a month from today. I know what the Planning Committee is doing to make this the most competitive and most entertaining Regatta in its 39 year history. Speed ordered side-by-side starts offer the possibility of a 2.5 mile bow ball to bow ball competition over a challenging but fair course. The races will be reported over the public address system (I expect to be doing some of the announcing), complete with biographical information provided by competitors and their coaches. A “Toss the Coxswain” event (on land, dummy coxswains used), with my good friends Mike Cipollone and Pete Cipollone (US Gold 8+ at Athens) as Honorary Judges, is one of several Festival Area diversions the Committee has planned.

I want especially to encourage open and masters competitors who haven’t yet organized boats and registered for the Regatta to do so now. The Schuylkill River, located in the largest urban park system in the United States, is one of the nation’s most beautiful racing venues, never more so than in late October. If you are racing on Saturday, stay over and enjoy Philadelphia’s superb night life. Go to www.philly.com for information. Highly affordable rates are offered by the Regatta’s recommended hotel sponsors. If you are a masters rower, come on Saturday and enjoy a delicious dinner at one of our preferred restaurant sponsors listed at www.hosr.org, all of which happen to be long-time favorites of the Boathouse Row community. Either way, be sure to visit The Philadelphia Museum of Art and see its collection of Thomas Eakins paintings.

I am looking forward to seeing you in Philadelphia in a few weeks.

Ted Nash as an athlete won the gold medal in the straight four at the 1960 Olympics and a bronze medal in that event in 1964. He has participated in more Olympics (11) as an athlete or coach than anyone else anywhere. Ted was for 17 years a heavyweight coach at The University of Pennsylvania. For the next 23 years he helped Penn AC athletes compete for spots on the National Team. He was an Assistant Coach of the 2004 Athens Olympics gold medal winning mens 8+ and an Assistant Coach 2008 Beijing Olympics. His record of 43 medals won by 72 coached crews in World Championships, Pan-Am Games and the Olympics is extraordinary.