Stamford rowers Tanner Polo and Colleen Magarian ended their fall season with Norwalk River Rowing with a number of medals to show for their season’s efforts.
Polo started the season on September 29 at the Head of the Merrimack in Methuen, Massachusetts, a regatta with 148 entries from 27 clubs in seven states. It was a warm, sunny day, and Norwalk’s youth teams came home with 6 first-place finishes, 5 second-place finishes and one third. The second-place finish in the first varsity eight was particularly sweet because the boys overheard an oarsman in another boat explain to a teammate who was unfamiliar with Norwalk River’s colors that the boat was from Norwalk River and was likely to come in last. Norwalk River beat that boat handily on its way to its second-place finish. On the boys team, Stamford resident Tanner Polo helped pull both the first varsity quad to a first-place finish and the lightweight double to third place.
On October 6 Norwalk River braved the cold and rain at the Head of the Riverfront on the Connecticut River in Hartford, a regatta with over 3,000 rowers and 608 boats in competition. The youth team came back with the DiscoverRe Cup for its first place finish in the boys varsity four plus coxswain, along with two silvers and three bronzes in other events. Not to be outdone, the masters team (adults) came back with a gold in the mixed eight plus coxswain. Stamford resident Tanner Polo helped power the boys quad to its silver and the second varsity eight to its bronze. Fellow Stamford resident Colleen Magarian was in the masters mixed eight plus coxswain that won a gold.
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October 12 Norwalk River spent a gorgeous fall day in Shelton, Connecticut at the Head of the Housatonic, one of the largest single-day head races in the country with approximately 700 boats competing. The youth team brought back two golds and a bronze, and the masters had two boats finish fourth, just seconds behind the medal winners. Stamford resident Colleen Magarian rowed in the masters womens four that took fourth.
On October 20 Norwalk River Rowing sent select boats up to Boston for the Head of the Charles, one of the premier “head” regattas in the world, attracting over 9,000 athletes and 300,000 spectators. Norwalk’s top finishing boat was the boys first varsity four, which came in an impressive tenth in a field of 84. The girls first varsity four also earned an automatic bid to return next year with a finish of 37 out of a strong field of 85. Stamford resident Colleen Magarian was in one of the five masters boats entered in the regatta.
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Norwalk River Rowing youth closed their fall season at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta in Philadelphia with 1,543 boats entered from 230 clubs and schools from 24 states and 6 countries. Norwalk River Rowing boys’ 3 golds and 3 bronzes gave them the first place point total for boys high school teams at the Head of Schuylkill, and with the girls’ silver gave them second in the overall high school team total (boys and girls) behind another local club, Saugatuck. Polo rowed in a boys four with coxswain (under 17) that came home with a bronze in a race with 36 boats.
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Photo caption: Stamford’s Polo (in the bow) rows with teammates from Wilton and Norwalk to win bronze at the Head of the Schuylkill.
