Andover women to compete in Head of the Charles Regatta

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October 16, 2008

This weekend marks the 44th annual Head of the Charles Regatta and the first time that a team of locals from Essex Rowing Club will compete in the event.

The Head of the Charles Regatta is the world's largest two-day rowing event with more than 7,500 athletes from around the world competing in 55 different races. The two-day event attracts 300,000 spectators to the banks of the Charles River in Boston and Cambridge.

Andover rowers include Farah Smith, age 42; Marianne Merritt, 44, a kindergarten teacher at High Plain Elementary School and mother of Lizzy Merritt, a member of ERC's Varsity Women's Team; and Sheila Stevenson, 46.

Essex Rowing, a two-year-old club out of Methuen, offers programs for youth and adult rowers of all levels.

Beyond the Head of the Charles Regatta, the fall racing season has been a busy one for Essex Rowing Club's Andover athletes:

In the first race of the season, Andover resident John Corbett (St. John's Prep, '10) and three teammates placed 7th out of 38 in the Men's Junior Four category at the Textile River Regatta on Oct. 5. The Varsity Women's Eight featuring AHS students Jen Johnson ('09), Lizzie Merrit ('10), Rose Cross ('11), Nora Hannum ('11), and coxswain Harrison Ganem ('10) finished 12th out of 35.

Those same boats raced, along with a Men's Junior Eight, at the New Hampshire Championships on Oct. 11. The Men's Eight, with AHS juniors Alex Tibbits and Clayton Ross, placed 15th out of 26. The Men's Four won a bronze medal and the Women's Eight improved to 10th out of 26.

At the end of the month, Essex Rowing heads to Philadelphia for the Head of the Schuylkill — the last big East Coast race of the fall season. AHS freshman Sam Pratt and sophomore Mitch Slovin will join juniors Alex Tibbits and Clayton Ross in the eight. The boys four will test its speed against the best in the country while the girls look to improve their race time.

A Women's Club Eight will participate in the Head of the Schuylkill later this month, along with a Master's Eight that includes Andover residents Katie Mannix, Marianne Merritt, Cookie Miller, Farah Smith, Sheila Stevenson and Marta Stiglin.

AHS freshman Sam Pratt and sophomore Mitch Slovin will join Tibbits and Ross in the eight.

Essex Rowing is also home to Andover Rowing Association, Inc., a subsidiary of ERC.

Andover Rowing Association enables ERC athletes who are students of Andover Public Schools to compete in events that are not traditionally available to club teams.