The Head of the Schuylkill Regatta is pleased to announce the winner of the 2026 Art Cover Contest – Gavin O’Dwyer of Dublin, Ireland.
Gavin rows with Neptune Rowing Club in Dublin, Ireland. He became curious about the Head of the Schuylkill after competing in The Head of the Charles in 2025. While visiting the HOSR website he discovered our cover art competition. As an amateur artist who has designed several book covers about Irish rowing history and program covers for the Neptune Regattas, he entered the cover art competition focusing his design around the Philadelphia skyline, the unique backdrop to rowing and regattas in the city.
HOSR’s call for 2026 Program Book cover art brought entries from across the community, students, rowers and professional artists. We congratulate Gavin and all the talented artists who have participated in this HOSR tradition!
Pick up a free copy of the Program Book at Registration or in the Information Booths (located at the Three Angels and Canoe Club). In addition, the 2026 Poster featuring the artwork is for sale ($12) at the Information Booth.
The use of the work of local artists began in 2017 when the program book cover featured the work of the award-winning artist, Elaine Lisle, through the generosity of Radclyff ‘Mike’ Thompson. The cover was a success and thus the beginning of the Regatta’s efforts to reach out to the art community and provide an opportunity for a local artist to show their work related to rowing, the Schuylkill River, and/or Boathouse Row. This community art initiative has received great support over the past 5 years and continues to grow.