Nora Collins '11

Nora Collins 11

Nora Collins '11

With its long, windy course on the Charles River, the Head of the Charles is the coxswain’s dream, or nightmare. The Bates College women’s eight took second place out of 34 boats in the Women’s Collegiate Eights Sunday at the 44th Head of the Charles Regatta. The result is the highest ever finish for a Bates crew.

The Bates women overcame harsh conditions to finish the winding course in 17:15.364. Sophomore coxswain Nora Collins (Kensington, Md.) navigated the cramped and difficult course to near-perfection, which allowed her rowers to focus solely on the speed of the boat. Bates trailed only Williams (17:11.649) and handily beat out such recent NCAA Championships rivals as Trinity (17:32.846), Ithaca (17:54.680) and William Smith (17:59.464). The result serves as a positive indicator for an exciting 2009 spring season.

The team will wrap up the Fall Season at Colby for the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Chase on Saturday, October 25th.