Rowing News: Rowing in Color Racing Three Boats for Head Of The Charles

Rowing in Color, a podcast that amplifies the voices of color in rowing since 2020, is racing two 8+’s and a Quad at this year’s Head Of The Charles Regatta®. In an effort to extend the visibility and representation from their podcast episodes onto the biggest stage in rowing, we are racing an all Black Men’s 8+ at 1:29 PM and an all Latina Women’s 8+ at 1:43 PM on Saturday, October 21, and on Sunday, October 22, and we have an all BIPOC Mixed Quad racing the Director’s Challenge at 4:05 PM.

Many thanks to Brendan Mulvey, Director of Racing for Head of the Charles Regatta. Brendan and Denise volunteer their time on the HOCR x Philadelphia Gold Cup Challenge Grant Fund committee, which to date has distributed over $400k in grants internationally to 15 rowing programs that are committed to building and sustaining diversity and inclusion in our sport. Brendan says, “this idea aligns with Head of the Charles and we are proud to support Rowing in Color, following last year’s first Black Women’s 8+ and all BIPOC 8+ entries.” Other volunteers on this Grants Fund committee include Elle Carolan (Organizing Committee Member), Courtney Wilson, Rebekah Armstrong, and Kayla Cloud.

We at Rowing in Color are so grateful for HOCR’s support in our vision to bring visibility onto the water. Wintech is graciously providing an 8+ for both the Black Men’s 8+ and the Latina Women’s 8+.

A few of the rowers competing in these two 8+’s stem from a number of Rowing in Color’s podcast episodes, namely:
– Maurice Scott (Episode 10)
– Corin Wiggins aka The Black Coxswain (Episode 48)
– Samantha Reyes (Episode 50)

Rowers not yet featured in episodes but included in the lineups are: Brook Yimer, Devin Woodson, Johnny Allen, Napoléon Griffin, Kameron Lovelady, Dakari Sawyers, Lawrence Lopez, Sebas López, Lilian Rolle, Aleeyah Marrero, Grace Trujillo, Tamara Clayton, Sabrina Farrell, Angelica Callery, Luciana Ruiz, Rasnaam Tiwana, Tracy Falkenthal, Stacey Malone, Davante Mason-Carrington.

Additionally, we are including two young Native American rowers, Lakota and Nialisa Longhorn, who will be part of the awards ceremony, on behalf of Rowing in Color. They are both proud members of the Absentee Shawnee, Northern Arapaho and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes.

When we asked the Rowing in Color community, “what does it mean to you to know there’s an all Latina 8+?”

Marci Robles stated, “[It means] THE WORLD. There were so few of us when I was an athlete… and even fewer when I was coaching. The loneliness that comes with that is real and it’s hard. And invisible to most. So for these women to have this space… it gives me hope.”

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Denise Aquino is the founder of Rowing in Color and a rowing professional with 13+ years of coaching/managerial experience. Follow Rowing in Color on Instagram @rowingincolor. Or you can reach Denise directly at denise @ rowingincolor.com