On Saturday, October 26th, 2024, the Farmington High School (FHS) girls attended the annual Head of the Horseman Regatta at the Glastonbury Boathouse. Despite harsh conditions, the girls first varsity (1V) boat won the regatta by over 15 seconds.
Crews from Farmington, Glastonbury, Avon, Simsbury, East Lyme, and E.O. Smith all competed in races taking place on the Connecticut River. All boats raced downstream on the 2,000 meter course.
The day started off well, with the novice boats racing first. The girls novice boat placed 3rd out of 6 boats while the boys novice boat placed 2nd out of 7 boats. The girls first varsity (1V) boat race took place at 11:30 AM. The conditions leading up to and during the race were rough, with extremely choppy water and high tailwinds. In fact, after the girls 1V race, the rest of the races were canceled.
“We all knew this might be the last race of the day, so we really wanted to make it count and bring it home”, stated junior Maya Demkowicz.
The results: Simsbury B boat came in 5th place, Avon came in 4th place, and Simsbury A boat came in 3rd. With a winning time of 6:41.9, the Farmington High School girls 1V beat Glastonbury for the 1st place spot by 16 seconds, making them the #1 public school in the state.
Glastonbury, a formidable rival in Connecticut public schools rowing, has been known to amass clean sweeps at regattas and win gold at states in many different categories. During the season the FHS girls crew team had been working hard to lower their margin between them and Glastonbury. Last season (2023-24), the girls had also beat Glastonbury for first place at the Head of the Horseman Regatta by 2 seconds to become the #1 public school in the state, and the team, with many new faces on the 1V girls boat hoped to repeat that.
“I think there was this expectation to do it again, but we weren’t expecting much since our margin had gone back up the last time we raced against them. But we had been training hard in between and we were just hoping to row the best race possible. During the race, the conditions were rough, but the boat felt smooth and connected,” Demkowicz stated.
The team was extremely happy with the results, especially seniors rowing their last fall season. Senior Emma Ritter stated, “It was honestly a really emotional moment, as we got to see the result of all our hard work throughout the season, and end off our last important race with a bang. This regatta was also fun because we got to dress up in team costumes so we were all ducks!”
With only one more race of the season, the Pumpkinhead Regatta/senior night hosted at home on November 2, the FHS girls crew team hopes to maintain their rank and celebrate their senior rowers.
