Boys in the Boat Finish Season at Nationals

The Brunswick rowing program continued to set the bar high in 2015, finishing another fine season on the water by claiming a bronze and silver medal at the National Schools’ Championship Regatta on the Occoquan River in Fairfax County, Va., on June 7.

 

The squad’s varsity eight boat — including sophomore coxswain Emmett Bell, junior stroke Will Bass, junior Will Powers, senior Matt Marvin, senior co-captain Jack Duggan, junior Thomas Kern, junior Gamble Freydberg, senior Conor Winston and senior bowman Freddie Polak — competed in the invitation-only championship regatta for the first time and placed third in the grand final with a time of 4 minutes, 25.17 seconds.

 

“It was a great performance that was in line with what they did during the regular season,” Martin said. “This was one of the strongest years our team has ever had. We had really good guys, who were really committed to rowing.”

 

The Bruins’ second varsity eight boat — with a line-up consisting of sophomore coxswain Alec Esmond, senior stroke David Ruf, senior co-captain Chase Stitzer, sophomore Matthew Womble, senior co-captain Reed McMurchy, junior Alexander Kutner, junior Ridgley Knapp, sophomore Alex Wada and sophomore bowman Will Marvin — placed second in its heat after registering its fastest time of the season (4:30.26.).

 

“That was the best year a second eight boat has had for us,” Martin said. “We had three seniors and two captains in that boat, so we had some good leadership. They were a really solid crew and we have six guys returning.”