Dublin’s rowers eyeing Boston

The largest three-day rowing race in the world is taking place next month just over an hour away, and a girls crew from Dublin School will be in the thick of it. On the third weekend in October, over 400,000 spectators are expected to jam the facing river banks of Cambridge and Boston to cheer on national teams, college crews, club and high school rowers from around the world at the Head of the Charles Regatta. While the Dublin girls also have other races this fall, competing on the Charles was foremost on their minds during a recent practice on Thorndike Pond.

“I’ve had a hip injury, so instead of rowing, I’m coxing,” explains Sarah Mundorff, a junior at Dublin from Knoxville, Tenn.. The coxswain steers the boat and calls out commands to the crew, and encouragement when the physical and mental toll of work on the water begins to wear on their speed and technique. Mundorff lies down in the bow of the boat and behind her, four girls each pull on two fiberglass oars per her direction. “They’re amazing,” girls’ coach Elizabeth Donahue says in the motor boat that trails the crew. “You ask them to do something, and they do it.” As someone who spent years in education including at ConVal High School, she appreciates how the girls take her advice – and well they should. After rowing at Boston University herself, Goodhue earned a spot in the first US National Lightweight Women’s team, and has been coaching at the school since 2018. Most high school and college crews compete in “sweep” rowing, in which each rower pulls on just one oar, on either the port or starboard side. A quad at the high school level is rare, and getting to race in Boston is harder than ever. Worldwide interest in the event is such that unless a crew finished near the top the previous year, they must enter a lottery to determine if they can race – and the Dublin quad is in this year.

A sophomore from North Shore, Ill., Sloane Anderson also rows in the spring and plays basketball in the winter; Dublin requires a sport or activity all three terms. “Rowing is the most positive experience I’ve had in a sport,” she says, noting the support they offer each other.

Autumn Moran agrees. A senior from Greenfield who lives on campus, she is the “stroke” in the stern seat. “We keep each other in check, but we joke around a bit too.” Their 90-minute plus row on this afternoon didn’t seem to involve too much laughter, however, as the crew plowed through the water at between 32 and 34 strokes a minute. At one point, Donahue steers her boat away to check on some other rowers, and the girls’ quad continues down the lake independently yet on task. Alaria Clauss is a junior from Chesterfield who started rowing in ninth grade at Dublin and ended up stroking the varsity boat that year. Like Moran, her winter activity is theater, while Sophie Decker in the three-seat is an alpine skier.

A sophomore from Epsom, Decker explains what draws the team down Upper Jaffrey Road every day. “Everyone wants to have a good time on the water, and we do.” Goodhue credits the character of Dublin students for creating this climate. “I haven’t met anyone at the school who is not always respectful to everyone else,” she says.

Rowing is in its second decade at Dublin, and the boys’ team is coached by Lindsay Brown, a history teacher at the school who rowed for the US team in the 1988 Olympics. As with everywhere, COVID impacted life at Dublin, but pre-pandemic, the school won the team trophy at the Granite State Regatta in Hanover. The Wildcats also have races on the Merrimack River in Lowell, Mass as well as in Saratoga and Albany, New York, but “the Head” in Boston is always on their mind. During a pause in the boat, Moran suggests rowing at fewer strokes per minute but with more power. After practice, Clauss shows the blisters on her hands from the oars, but smiles as she does. With an 8:30 race on Sunday, Oct. 20, the buses and boats will be leaving Dublin before first light. “When they heard that we’re racing in Boston,” Goodhue says, “they were ecstatic.”