Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association

Sunny and windy. A typical Saturday at Head of the Charles. Missing you #HOCRSunny and windy. A typical Saturday at Head of the Charles. Missing you #HOCR

Photos from today’s memorial service for our beloved Joe Sweeney, including the Calling of the Fleet. The boat parade included a Bonner alumni 8 and a LaSalle University alumni 8 with an empty seat for Joe.

Congratulations to the PSRA rowers who were recognized by USRowing on its 2020-21 Scholastic Honor Roll: Matthew Davis and Cormac Delaney, both of Malvern Prep; and honorable mention to Alexandra Crow of Moorestown High School, Ruth Engelman of The Episcopal Academy, Madeline Hobson of Villa Joseph Marie High School, Andreas Moeller of Germantown Academy Crew, and Catherine Van Stone of Mount Saint Joseph Academy.

https://www.jacobfruth.com/obituary/joseph-sweeney

We lost our beloved Joe Sweeney this weekend. He wasn’t just a one of the good guys, he was a legend. Our condolences to the Sweeney family and everyone in the Philly rowing community. We will all miss you, Joe.

Everyone in Scholastic rowing knew Ed! What a loss for us all. Our condolences to the Holy Spirit and Rehill families.

There's good news today! The Philadelphia Department of Heath is now allowing team boats (boats with more than one or more athletes) to row on the Schuylkill as long as the athletes follow certain health protocols and restrictions. However, the City has a ban on events on public property that have more than 50 participants so regattas are still not permitted. There are also restrictions on the use of the public parking lots near the grandstands and the Temple and St. Joe's boathouses. Happy Labor Day! Stay safe!

We are sadly making it official. Because of the City of Philadelphia's ban on any public-permitted events over 50 people, we are canceling our fall head race, Hidden River Chase, which was scheduled for Nov. 1. We had hoped to make it a singles race, but we are not even allowed to do that now. Let's all keep our fingers crossed and make sacrifices to the River Gods for a spring 2021 season.

Patsy was a Bryn Mawr PA native and had children and grandchildren who were PSRA rowers. Our condolences to her family and our gratitude for all she did for rowing, especially women rowers and referees.

PSRAers, do not miss this fantastic film that includes some familiar scenes. It's free on Xfinity now!

Rest In Peace Bill Flick, son of one of our founders, Manny Flick. Our condolences to the Flick Family. http://danjolell.tributes.com//William-Ortlieb-Flick-10849

We hope this message finds you safe and healthy. Today we are announcing that the Head Of The Charles will not be held in-person on the Charles River this fall,... and instead we will hold a global remote event. We know the fact that we will not be together in person will be disappointing to many of you. In making our decision, we evaluated a full range of options against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and USRowing guidelines, and consulted with leading infectious disease physicians from Massachusetts General Hospital. Based on that analysis, the board of directors and the executive team of the Regatta concluded that they would be unable to run the world class in-person regatta that the rowing community has come to expect while keeping competitors, coaches, volunteers, spectators and vendors safe. We appreciate your patience and support as we move to a different format for 2020. A personal note from Fred Schoch, Executive Director - "As you know, our top priority has always been holding a regatta that is safe, competitive and fun. While we are deeply disappointed that health and safety conditions throughout the world prohibit us from doing that this year, our team is hard at work developing a global remote event to be held this October. Looking back, in 1996 we had to cancel the Regatta because of especially bad weather; at the time, it was heartbreaking because there was no other option. As I think about our plan for the fall, I believe we have an innovative approach that will give athletes from around the world an opportunity to compete and will also increase inclusivity since we will be able to increase the number of spots for competitors. We all look forward to hosting the Regatta on the Charles in 2021." What will the global remote event look like in 2020? Athletes will be able to compete by racing the length of the Head Of The Charles (4,702 meters) on their own body of water or on an erg, depending on what their specific situation is in mid October. We will announce a full line up of events, formats and racing rules by mid August with registration opening on September 1st. Note: entries that were guaranteed for 2020 will roll over to 2021 #hocr2020

Coaching for Significance...