Blood Street Rowers Finish Strong at Head of the Charles

OLD LYME, CT – Old Lyme Rowing Association/Blood Street Sculls rowers brought home second- and third-place finishes at the Head of the Charles Regatta, held Oct. 16-18 on the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Head of the Charles, a USRowing-sanctioned regatta, bills itself as the world’s largest three-day rowing competition, attracting 325,000 spectators, 11,500 competitors and 2,400 volunteers.

Coach and member Candace Fuchs provided results and background information for the Old Lyme-based club’s showing at the Head of the Charles. The club’s mixed quad finished second, featuring Charlotte Hollings, Tom Stottlemyer, Fuchs and Dale Hoxie. Hollings is a world champion in the women’s lightweight four.

Hoxie and Stottlemyer also teamed up for third place in the men’s 60-plus double, while Hollings and Fuchs finished fourth in the women’s 60-plus double.

Blood Street’s men’s 70-plus four, consisting of Glenn Wiltshire, Richard Rosseau, Matthew Williams, Bernard Medina and John Gentile, placed third.

Other Blood Street crews included the men’s youth four, which placed 41st. The Goulis brothers, identical twins Gavin and Harrison, rowed with teammates Brady Donovan, Lucas Granucci and Morgan Buerger in the event.

The women’s youth four, consisting of Emelia Munster, Sylvie Webber, Ella Ziolkovski, Gina Dong and Carli Teixeira, rowed to a 47th place finish.

Additional results included a 27th-place finish for Sean and Ryan McTigue in the parent-child double; 45th for Robert Baratt and 54th for Lee Cole-Chu in the men’s 70-plus single; and 22nd for Greg Hack and Chris McCawley in the men’s 60-plus double.

Cole-Chu, who rowed for Blood Street as a child, previously won the Head of the Charles in the single. Hack is the father of Austin Hack, an Old Lyme High School graduate and Olympic rower.

The women’s 50-plus eight placed 24th. The team consisted of Tanner Griffin, Lauren Girasoli, Kelsey Murphy, Madalyme Longfellow, Kristi Dorsey, Melinda Welch, Ashley Malinovsky, Kathleen Apicelli and Gretchen Gregg.

Blood Street-affiliated rowers and coaches also competed in several events. Hannah Paynter finished 16th in the alumni eight. Coach Kate Ryan was associated with a women’s youth coxed quad that placed second, and Harry Godfrey-Fogg competed in the men’s club eight, which finished 13th.

Three Blood Street boats — the boys’ four, women’s double and men’s double — qualified for guaranteed entries in the 2027 regatta.

Blood Street coach Paul Fuchs has held the course record in the lightweight single since 1984. It is the longest-standing record at the regatta, according to the Head of the Charles Regatta course records website.

For more information about the organization’s rowing programs, visit www.oldlymerowing.org.