The Head of the Charles, known nationally and internationally as one of the most prestigious regattas in the world, will be the final destination for six members of the LHS Crew team this Sunday, Oct. 23.

“This race is twice as big as anything else we’ve ever rowed in,” junior rower Heather Ricker said.

Ricker, along with teammates Michaela Downing and Kiara Dedier, will be part of a women’s youth eight boat. The other five in their boat will be students from Manchester Memorial and Pinkerton Academy.

The rowers will be racing under Manchester Rowing Alliance, the organization that provides coaches and equipment for Lancer crew, as well as students from Pinkerton Academy, Manchester Memorial, Manchester School of Technology, and Manchester West. The high schools combine to form one team participating in the HOTC regatta.

For participation in the HOTC regatta, teams must place entries for boats in specific events into a lottery. This year the Manchester Rowing Alliance had three boats selected and Coach Brenda Balenger was faced with the challenge of selecting only twelve rowers to attend the regatta.

“We knew from the start that things would be very competitive,” Ricker said.

According to Balenger, the rowers were chosen based off of their ability to move the boat in the water, personal fitness, dedication and teamwork, and which seats were available (each boat has variation between the starboard end and the port end, each rower has a specific seat they can row).

The rowers were told about the chance to row in the Charles River and have worked for over a month and a half to prove their technique, power, and teamwork were enough achieve this goal.

“We’ve come a long way and have made lots of improvements,” Ricker said. “We’ve got so many dedicated rowers all together, and we are going to push out hardest to show the world what we’ve got.”

The women’s youth eight boat will have to place in the top 50% of boats in their race in order to compete in the same event next year, per Head of the Charles race rules.

In a women’s youth double, senior Zannie Moskal and junior Kelley Roberts will work as a team and junior Brian Parrott will pair up with a Pinkerton rower to form a men’s youth double boat. To return to the regatta next year, doubles boats have to place in the top 25% of boat in their race.

“Having the opportunity to even take part in it at such a young age is a huge honor,” Ricker said. “We are all so grateful to have made it this far and to be able to represent our school, our team, and do our best.”