Shrewsbury High School Crew Teams Head To World's Largest Rowing Event

SHREWSBURY, MA — Two crews from Shrewsbury High School will head to the world's biggest three-day rowing regatta this weekend.

Nine girls and five boys from SHS will compete on Sunday at the Head Of The Charles in Boston. Both crews, who gained entry through a lottery process, have been preparing for months and will head to the epic competition on Friday for one last practice row down the course.

Nine girls will get to compete as Shrewsbury's Girls Varsity 8 team — three senior captains, Sophia Zhang, Delia Lagrander and Shruti Sivashankar, as well as teammates Hailey Gardiner, Phoebe McKenna, Maggie Markland, Olivia Bernier, Francesca Thibodeau and Emily Marsden.

Five boys will compete as Shrewsbury Boys U17 4+ team — Chase Rath, Walter (Teddy) Dow, Andrew Stoessel, Lucas Rocha Rosell and Rajat Krishnan.

Some of the female athletes have competed in the event before, while none of the male athletes have had the chance to compete there yet.

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Each year, nearly 3,000 teams from around the world head to Boston for the HOCR, which has become the largest rowing event globally. The three-day event kicks off on Friday, when Shrewsbury's teams will get to practice the course before they compete on Sunday.

"There's boats as far as you can see, so it's great for the kids to have an exposure to," said Mitch McManus, the head girls' coach and rowing director for Shrewsbury Crew. "They get some sort of understanding of the honor and the privilege they've got of being able to compete in this race."

He said overall, three trailers full of boats from the Donahue Rowing Center in Shrewsbury will head to the regatta this weekend, as teams from Saint John's High School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Holy Cross and more are expected to compete.

But McManus said it really is a privilege for a public school to have a rowing program like Shrewsbury's.

"How lucky and fortunate they are to be supported by the community to be able to row, to be part of this sport," said McManus. "We survive year to year by the generosity of donors and community support."

A new "eight" racing shell costs anywhere from $50,000 to $70,000, with oars being $500 a piece. McManus said that Shrewsbury's rowing teams couldn't exist without the community.

For McManus, who grew up in Australia and is a rower himself, the sport shaped him as a person, and he wants to help replicate the experience he had for his team.

"The satisfaction I get in seeing kids come into a program who have never touched an oar before, never been in the boat," McManus said. "The thrill of teaching them to realize their potential, and see they can go fast in boats and find success is, by far, the greatest satisfaction I've ever had professionally."

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