The Bell
Fighting Scots Take the Lake
Gordon’s campus is blessed with natural resources at our fingertips, but one local resource has found a new purpose for students—nearby Chebacco Lake, one of the only suitable freshwater locations for crew training in Massachusetts. On this 1.7 mile stretch of water, you’ll find 18 to 20 Gordon students training before 6 a.m. What may be Gordon’s most physically challenging club sport has taken shape just in the last few months, coached by Emily Elliott and equipped with three new, custom-made boats (and others on loan). The boats have been dubbed Woodmansee, Phoenix, Rubicon and Tobias, to name a few. At the team’s first regatta this month, the results surprised everyone: Women’s Rowing placed 2nd and 5th, and in the men’s doubles Gordon’s team placed 3rd.
Since becoming a GCSA (Gordon College Student Association) club sport this fall, Gordon Rowing has hosted Olympic rower Gevvie Stone on campus to talk with students, and competed in the Men’s and Women’s Championship Double at the Head of the Charles Regatta. The HOCR (which took place October 17 and 18) is the largest regatta in the nation and one of Boston’s biggest college traditions in sport. Athletes from all over the world come to Boston to compete on an elite level, but it’s the Boston area schools that always steal the show. Nothing shows school spirit quite like race weekend and this year, Gordon was in the race—and in the crowd—for our first time participating in this Boston tradition.
“The crowd at the Charles is always such a thrill to race for,” says Coach Elliot, who competed as a scholarship athlete on a Division I Women’s Rowing team. “We had Gordon supporters all throughout the course, and I know the athletes felt incredibly motivated when they heard the cheers for Gordon on the shore.”
The Rowing Team has one more regatta on schedule: the Head of the Fish in Saratoga, New York, on Halloween weekend. “I am looking forward to a race where we will be able to get a lot more rowers in boats, have fun, and learn more about what it means to race. Fish Creek is a place that I am personally very familiar with, so I am excited to show the course to the Gordon crew,” says Coach Elliot.
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Watch a short video clip from practice >>
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Head of the Charles Regatta photos by Antony Ohman ’17