Dartmouth College rowing delivered one of its strongest all-around performances in recent history at the 60th Head of the Charles Regatta, held October 17 to 19 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Competing against thousands of athletes at the world’s largest three-day rowing event, the Big Green earned several medals and finished second in the MacMahon Cup team points standings, behind Princeton and ahead of Harvard.
The regatta’s 4,800-meter course on the Charles River challenges rowers with tight turns and staggered time-trial starts. Nearly 12,000 competitors from around the world raced across the weekend, while spectators lined the river in the tens of thousands.
Dartmouth’s women’s club eight won silver with a time of 16:15, finishing less than a second behind Yale. The crew maintained a steady rhythm throughout the race despite minor collisions while attempting to pass other boats. Cate Hamilton ‘29, who rowed in the boat, emphasized the strength of synchronization and preparation.
“Lis Madigan ‘27 set a great rhythm, and everything clicked that week,” Hamilton said. “We all had a really strong desire to win.”
The women’s championship eight placed tenth with a time of 16:06, one of Dartmouth’s best showings in recent years. The women’s club four placed seventh in 18:31 and the championship four finished eleventh at 17:54.
On the men’s side, the lightweight eight clocked 14:21 to place fifth. The crew followed an aggressive strategy over the first 3,000 meters, according to coxswain Skylar Rockmael ‘27, who prepared by studying river navigation and consulting alumni coxswains.
“We started really strong and hit our rhythm early,” Rockmael said. “But around the Elliott turn, we started to feel fatigue set in.” Rockmael noted that despite losing pace, the crew stayed composed. “They showed a lot of trust in each other.”
The lightweight four placed ninth in 16:14. Meanwhile, the men’s heavyweight team also delivered key results. The club eight earned gold among 36 crews with a time of 14:21, besting the competition by over three seconds. The club four brought home silver in 16:30.
Tom Thomas ‘26, who stroked the club eight, said the boat encountered a setback mid-race when a teammate “caught a crab,” disrupting rhythm. “We thought we’d lost the win, but Harvard got a time penalty for an obstruction, which moved us into first,” he said.
In the championship eight, the heavyweight varsity placed seventh overall and fourth among collegiate entries with a time just 14 seconds behind Cambridge University, whose winning boat included Dartmouth alumni Sammy Houdaigui ‘25 and Felix Rawlinson ‘24.
Following the strong regatta, Dartmouth’s crews will continue their fall campaigns with the women competing at the Princeton Chase on November 2. The men’s lightweight squad hosts Columbia in a dual meet on November 1 before shifting focus to the spring championship season.
The results at the Head of the Charles signal growing momentum across Dartmouth’s rowing teams. With strong finishes in club and championship events, the program enters the final stretch of fall racing with confidence and clear progress.
