On Oct. 18, the Lewis & Clark Rowing Team participated in the Charlie Brown Regatta, the Orange vs. Black Regatta and hosted the Alumni Row at Oaks Park across the Willamette River. Over the course of the day, current rowers from Pacific University, University of Portland and LC partook in several races, and LC alumni reunited and rowed against current LC students.
The regatta is named not after the popular “Peanuts” character Charlie Brown, but the head coach of the LC rowing team when it became a varsity sport. Orange vs. Black is the intrateam novice and mixed-level race, and the culmination of a weeklong friendly, spirited competition based on points gained from various activities. The week also consisted of themed practices and activities such as a scavenger hunt and dressing up in colors according to their class year to promote the festivities.
Warm weather and clear skies welcomed the teams, who began preparations for several longer races starting at the Ross Island Bridge, which would then be followed by shorter 750-meter races starting at the Sellwood Bridge, which is visible from the Oaks Rowing Unlimited dock and was spectated from the shore.
The first round contained a novice eight — a boat containing eight newer rowers and a coxswain, who sits in the front and directs and motivates the team. Several smaller boats, including the LC men’s varsity four, Pacific University fours, University of Portland fours and LC pairs were next to row.
The second round of rowing commenced in the late morning after a break. The start of this race was at the Ross Island Bridge, where Pacific University, University of Portland and LC varsity eights and fours rowed southbound to the finish line along the 3,000-meter course.
By the afternoon, the sprint races were underway, and alumni were making preparations to row together again. Many were recent graduates, although there were a variety of former LC students in attendance, some of whom were assisting with event coordination and management. Madi Hyde ’16 reminisced on her days as a student athlete, mentioning head coach Charlotte Copp ’18, as a friend and teammate of hers.
“My favorite part of rowing was being on the river every day, with the team getting outside and getting off of campus … and making sure that I really prioritized my time, got my work done, and was really honest with my teammates and my professors about workload.”
Hyde shared a similar sentiment to current students.
One of her highlights was “seeing the community of the LC rowing team still being really strong and happy,” Hyde said. “It’s been really cool seeing Charlotte come in as a new crew coach because we rowed together. She was at school when I was at school, so it’s really awesome seeing the legacy live on.”
Current students expressed their highlights of the regatta.
“Some of us got to go down and cheer on the river for racing. I like watching and cheering on my teammates,” Meredith Lybbert ’28 said.
The trophies, hand-painted pumpkins, to be awarded to the winners of the races in the first round were another highlight.
“Definitely the pumpkins,” said Claire Kimmel. “We painted them ourselves.”
Very long or recreational races can be completed at an average of around 25-30 strokes per minute, while sprint races have closer to 35 strokes or more per minute. Eliot Woods ‘26 highlights this athletic aspect: “Our Fastest Eight, a 750 sprint, where we had novices sprinting at 34 strokes per minute.”
Lybbert and Woods both expressed excitement about preparing for the competitive aspects of rowing, such as getting the team up to speed for the spring season and preparing for Head of the American, the first competitive regatta, which occurred the following weekend.
“I want to make big moves with how strong I am, and I want to put together good boats with the people I row with,” Woods said.
These five members agree that a big challenge of rowing is balancing it with academics, social life and work.
“Making time for it is a challenge, like being able to do homework and be able to balance rowing because it takes up the time of a part-time job,” Kimmel said.
Devon Hall ’27 explained the practice schedule during the fall. Water practices occur on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings, as well as a morning lift. The hardest workout of the week on the rowing machines occurs on Mondays, and “homeworks,” or additional asynchronous workouts, are assigned and often completed on Wednesdays, Fridays or Sundays. Fridays are also dedicated to an optional small boat day for rowers who are interested in gaining experience in singles, pairs, doubles and quads. Despite being demanding, the fall is an excellent time for teammates to “get acquainted with rowing, the team and finding the enjoyment,” Hall stated.
Hall elaborated on the difficulties that this schedule can create, but emphasized the benefits of a structured schedule.
“It helps me have a more structured schedule for sure because I have obligations throughout the week. I usually have to build my schedule more intently in order to fit in whatever I might want to do: so homework, work-work or hanging out with friends. I wouldn’t say it’s impacted (other obligations) negatively. Only the fact that it’s pretty intense, so it’s exhausting,” Hall stated. “Oftentimes, when I get off practice and I get my homework done, I just want to chill.”
Hall stressed the importance of the competitive fall tournament, Head of the American, which occurred on Oct. 25 at Lake Natoma, hosted by Sacramento State Aquatic Center in California. He emphasized the competitiveness which he and other experienced rowers were excited for, and elaborated on further competitive opportunities this semester.
“I think we’re gonna raise some hell at the Head of the American. Because it was so competitive, this last seat racing period … we’re all very in it, and we want to win. And we’re excited to race together,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of drive in our boat. And we’re all super hyped.”
At Head of the American, the men’s varsity four placed fifth out of thirteen teams, and the women’s varsity eight placed eighteenth out of twenty crews.
Seat racing refers to the evaluation methods used by coaches to determine the impact of different rowers in a boat by switching out different rowers and measuring the differences. Coaches then use this data to create lineups.
Rowing is a very welcoming and inclusive sport, and team bonding activities are planned regularly to promote socialization and improve team dynamics. Regattas are another opportunity for team bonding, with long road trips that include stopping for lunch and staying in a hotel.
“We’ll go out and do dinner, or we’ll do breakfast after Saturday morning row. We’ll go to the Waffle House … Someone wanted to do a little bonfire after practice … We made hotdogs,” Hall said. “When we go to practice, we all go down to the tennis dome and we’ll pile into vans all together. And I’ll just be listening to music, hanging out, chit-chatting, whatever.”
LC Rowing is a well-known varsity sport that emphasizes inclusion and enjoyment, but is also highly competitive. The first regatta of the year was a great introduction to the sport for novices and an opportunity for alumni to reconnect with their former teammates. The bulk of competitive regattas occur in the spring with several occurring along the west coast leading up to the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships (WIRA) which historically occur in late April.
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