SRA Stories: 5am Women's HOCR Story

The 2018 HOCR as Bow 7

Sammamish Rowing Association has been enjoying increased success and athlete attendance at the Head of the Charles Regatta year after year. The Head of the Charles Regatta is the largest two-day regatta in the world. With over 11,000 athletes participating- competition is fierce. Athletes race on an extremely challenging course to steer on- the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. The rowers must race up the Charles, following its many twists and turns while trying to pass or yield to other boats and while navigating under the proper arch of half a dozen multi-arched bridges. For most coxswains it is the most difficult course they will ever face.

Rowers dream of attending this event and only select athletes are invited or qualify to attend and race. This renowned head race is an intense performance for both rowers and coxswains alike. 

It sometimes takes a lot more than just physical superiority to win this race. Actually, most of the time it takes a special mix of certain qualities to make a great boat. One boat of women from the Sammamish Rowing Association 5am Team has seemed to check all the boxes for what it takes to be successful at the HOCR. 

Calvert, Solaro, Miller, Teschke, and Carrillo (left to right)

Sally Solaro, Barb Calvert, Trisha Miller, Jennifer Teschke, and Genevieve Carrillo have rowed together as a boat for the past two Head of the Charles races in the Women’s 50+ category. These five women have been with SRA as long as eight years to at least four. All of them said that the reason they came together as a boat was because of their rowing coach- Tom Woodman.

Jennifer snapping a selfie of the Women's 4+

“Tom always picks the lineups. He bases it on what makes the boat go fast,” Teschke said. Tom put these women together for the 2018 HOCR. Solaro and Calvert often rowed as pair partners, and all of them had rowed at HOCR at least four times, but for the four of them rowing this lineup was new. ​

What was also new was their coxswain, Genevieve Carrillo. Calvert met Carrillo on a plane. Calvert said, “We were coming back from the HOCR the year before. She (Carrillo) was sitting next to me on the plane so we had a few conversations. She had just coxed for the Cambridge Boat Club men. They had flown her out there and she spent the week going up and down the course with them. The men taught her how to cut every single curve and corner possible and what her sightlines should be. I asked ‘well would you ever be interested in coxing for us?’ We ended up exchanging phone numbers.”

Fate would have it that in 2018 Carrillo had not yet heard from the Cambridge Boat Club men, and Calvert called her to see if she would cox the SRA Women’s 4+. She accepted and has now coxed the women the past two years at HOCR, and the women attribute a good chunk of their success to her incredible steering, race calls, and motivation.

When asked if they were nervous before their 2018 race, Teschke said, “It wasn’t our first time down the race course so we felt pretty confident.” Tom was purposeful in practice. He would put us together as much as possible and give us some fours to race against.” They only encountered one hiccup, “We clashed oars, but that’s HOCR for you,” Teschke added, “There was no panic in the boat. It was more ‘they’re in our way, how do we get out of this.’ After clearing our oars we got back into the rhythm. 

A 3rd place medal each rower earned

They got an extra boost of motivation when they passed other boats. Solaro said, “We were bow 7 in that race and passed about 3 boats.”

Eventually the women finished and were told by Scott Winter that they placed second. Later on they verified it. They had won a silver medal at the HOCR. Calvert said, “We were very confident that we would make the top ten, but we wanted top five.” It turns out they certainly did make the top five with a boat from Cambridge being the only one to beat them. It’s important to point out that this Cambridge boat was comprised of Olympians and National Champions whereas the Sammamish boat had only one rower with collegiate rowing experience. Everyone else had learned as adults, two at SRA.

Fast forward to this year and the women again made top five, earning a bronze medal in the same race. While they still felt confident in each other, each woman experienced some setbacks. Miller said, “Going into 2019 I wasn’t less confident with the boat, I was less confident with myself.” Miller had been experiencing shoulder problems, and Calvert had broken her toe and hand earlier in the year so they had to work hard to keep up with training. 

For all of these women, training was brutal. Not only did they practice as a team on the water and on the ergs putting in several hours of hard work a week, but on top of that they trained individually. To achieve the success they had each woman had to put in numerous hours on their own spending extra time in the gym. Sacrifices were made to go the extra mile, and training without a teammate constantly by your side can be hard. Calvert said, “Training by yourself can be boring but I find the focus and dedication in this process is important.  It carries into the boat. When I get into the boat I think about all the hours, the focus, dedication I've put in.  Now it's all about just getting the job done.”

Overall, they trusted themselves, their teammates, and Tom to prepare for the 2019 HOCR. Solaro said, “It felt great getting back in our four after seat racing. It was different going in as bow 2 to chase a boat and hold off the pack rather than passing people.” 

All of the women talked about the incredible honor of being coached by Tom Woodman, a member of the 1980 Olympic Team. Woodman was featured in a mural of his Olympic 8 racing in Amsterdam on the wall of the CRI boathouse that the women visited to receive their rented boat. He has been with the 5am team for over 12 years, and brings a wealth of knowledge to his organized practices. Woodman helps all of his athletes discover and improve their anaerobic thresholds, and has saved extremely detailed notes on practices and seat races throughout his years of coaching.

Going in as Bow 2 in the 2019 HOCR

Armed with the superior Sammamish Rowing coaching, and hours upon hours of training on their own, these five women were able to succeed year after year at the HOCR. Each of them had their own piece of advice towards creating a successful boat. Most of the successful characteristics of their boat included trust, chemistry, laughter, hard work, and practice.

Miller said, “I’m always talking to the juniors about this, but we always assume the best intent. The trust is there because I know they all trust me too. They know I’m working as hard as I can and they are too. There’s a seed of doubt in some boats whether everyone is trying hard enough and training on their off days, and with this boat there isn’t that doubt.”

Bronze medal winner's standing on stage to accept their medals with Coach Tom Woodman

Teschke agreed adding, “Everyone knows I will work hard to pull as hard as I can. It can be poisonous in a boat if everyone decides someone is causing a problem. There’s no judgement with our boat.”

Solaro said, “We all know our role in the boat and we support each other in those roles. My goal is to get Barb’s ass over the line first!” Calvert has been their bow seat each year.

Calvert followed with, “Sally says she can do this all day long, so I know I can do it all day long.”

This boat from SRA’s 5am team has enjoyed incredible success and they credit not only themselves, but a talented coxswain, loyal coach, and supportive team. These women who wear matching loud leggings on the Friday before their HOCR race, are both relaxed and intensely focused. Their training was an intense mix of personal dedication and trust in their coach, Tom Woodman. Their practically daily dedication to hours of difficult, and sometimes very painful, workouts yielded results to be very proud of.

They look forward to a growing masters team as Sammamish welcomes in new rowers every year. While they would love to row in more HOCR events together, they leave their future in the trusted hands of Tom Woodman. They trust his process without question.

Congratulations Sally, Trisha, Barb, Genevieve, and Jennifer! Sammamish Rowing looks forward to more success from you all and great memories!

Trisha, Jennifer, Sally, and Barb (left to right) standing by a photo wall mural of Tom Woodman in his 1980 Olympic 8+ in the CRI boathouse