Steve Garside got a text from his oldest son Jacob on Monday.
“‘Let’s sign up for the parent-child race. I want a Head of the Charles medal because I can’t be outdone by Travis!’” the message read.
Jacob had finished in third at the USRowing Youth National Regatta two years ago and missed his high school graduation for it. Travis is Jacob’s younger brother, and he placed first with Seth Lowne in the under-17 division of the men’s youth doubles race this past weekend at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.
They didn’t just win a gold medal; they won by more than 30 seconds. Garside and Lowne clocked in at a time of 17 minutes, 38.670 seconds, with the Episcopal School of Dallas (Texas) finishing second at 18:11.902. The Concord duo was also eighth out of the 56 total boats in the men’s youth doubles competition regardless of age.
One of the most prestigious races in the rowing world, competitors need to finish in the top half of their field to guarantee a spot at next year’s competition. Garside was confident Travis and Seth could hit that mark.
But first place? Maybe not.
“We never expected this,” Garside said. “It was just absolutely amazing.”
Those tempered expectations were mostly attributable to the competition.
Concord crew is a smaller and less-competitive team than others they face. Some of the best prep schools and colleges in the country and around the world send rowers to the Head of the Charles.
Garside has 47 kids who row for him this season. Down the road, Bedford High has about 100 kids. And, as he explained, the closer you get to Boston, the more selective the teams are. Rowers need to meet certain criteria if they want to make the team, whereas in Concord, anyone who wants to participate can.
The preparation for the regatta like the one Garside and Lowne participated in is intensive. Training is year-round. In the winter it’s weights, cross training and indoor rowing machines. In the spring, it’s fast-paced, high-intensity races. In the summer, they row recreationally and continue to work out to stay in shape.
During the spring and fall rowing seasons that span 11 weeks, they’ll row roughly 2½ hours each day — that’s about seven miles — five or six days a week
“It’s physically intensive, and it’s also mentally challenging,” Steve Garside said. “I always equate it to learning how to golf. You can go out and swing at the ball, and it may go someplace, but it doesn’t go where you want or how you want. … Teaching them how to row is one thing, and getting the boat to move is another, but to get it to move the most efficient way you can through the water takes a lot of time and a lot of practice.”
They have one more race this weekend in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., before Garside and Lowne will gear up for winter training, hoping to reach nationals in the spring.
But for now, Steve Garside still relishes what he saw this past weekend.
“They kept their calm, their cool, just kept pushing through and came out on top,” he said. “It was actually amazing to watch. It’s probably one of the most coveted trophies in the rowing world.”