Sunny skies and an improved waterfront greeted participants who came out for the Head of the Chick regional rowing regatta on Sunday at Chickahominy Riverfront Park.
Sixteen clubs from across Hampton Roads and beyond turned out for the regatta, hosted by the Williamsburg Boat Club. More than 130 rowers alone from the WBC participated, along with rowers from several college clubs, including William & Mary and Christopher Newport University. Altogether, upwards of 1,000 rowers took part.
“It was amazing,” WBC President Bruce Lifka said. “We had really nice weather, which is important for the Chickahominy. It was just a perfect day for a regatta.”
The Williamsburg Boat Club, which started in the 1980s with several resurgences over the years, has multiple levels of competition rowers, including middle school, high school and masters teams. The club entered the season with the most rowers it has had since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rowers mostly hail from Williamsburg and James City and York counties, but also come from New Kent, Charles City, Newport News and Poquoson.
The club prides itself as being a place where anyone can participate, and where learning teamwork and life skills are as important as learning to row.
“It’s not about winning or losing,” said Lifka, who coaches the novices. “It’s about getting 11- to 14-year-old kids out on the water safely in their first competition.”
Still, the Williamsburg Boat Club managed to net a number of first-place finishes on Sunday, including a middle school mixed boy/girl team. The club’s middle school team started in 2014 and has been getting stronger ever since, according to coaches.
The region doesn’t have many consolidated rowing regattas, which are often in places such as Florida, Tennessee and Georgia, Lifka said. So having so many participants this year — including a strong showing from college teams — was exciting, he said.
The list of results from Head of the Chick can be found at www.regattacentral.com/regatta/clubs/?job_id=7555&org_id=0.
The recent waterfront overhaul at the James City County park has also improved the team and spectator experience by opening up the views of the river from the shore, club officials said. There’s also a longer start/recovery dock to facilitate more efficient rowing. Development of the park is still in progress, and WBC is continuing to raise funds to develop a comprehensive rowing center.
As far as conditions for rowing goes, the Chickahominy River is a wide river that offers a “buoyed and uncomplicated course,” according to WBC. With the new course and improved land conditions, the club hopes to build on the event for the future.
Along the way, the club plans to keep up the philosophy that has served it well for so many years: Everyone rows, regardless of skill level.
“A lot of the success is based on learning from winning and losing, and then taking that to the next race,” Lifka said. “You learn to row as a team, learn to be competitive and then the next step is to go as far as you can.”
The Williamsburg Boat Club’s “Wine & Dine” fundraiser is scheduled for Nov. 18 at Two Rivers Country Club. For more information, visit www.williamsburgboatclub.org/.
Kim O’Brien Root, kimberly.root@virginiamedia.com
