The Blades, Boathouses, and Beasts of the Charles

ome sports teams differentiate themselves with memorable mascots. Others set themselves apart with their jerseys, colors, or quirky traditions. Meanwhile, crew teams pull oars painted with historic designs passed down through generations.

On a bustling river like the Charles, safety adds another layer to the painted oars. The Massachusetts State Police mandates that oars be uniquely painted so that a rower’s home boathouse can be identified in the unlikely event of an emergency or incident on the river.

This year, the Head of the Charles is hosting 846 teams on the Charles for an epic weekend of racing, rivalries, and celebrations. This guide will help you spot local teams as they take the legendary course by storm.

a. Radcliffe & Harvard (RVL, RVH, HUBC, HVL)

The women of Harvard-Radcliffe’s teams can be seen ripping down the Charles, pulling their iconic black-and-white, triangle-painted oars. Harvard’s male rowers pull the red-and-white counterpart. In 1974, Harvard and Radcliffe merged their athletic programs, forming a powerhouse co-ed program in which nearly all athletes compete as the Harvard Crimson. The only athletes who chose to retain the Radcliffe name were the women of the Radcliffe crew teams. To this day, Harvard-Radcliffe’s rowers race in Black-and-White to honor the strong and courageous women who, for the last 55 years, have been a part of the oldest Ivy League women’s rowing program.

b. United States Training Center - Boston (USTC - Boston) & Boston Rowing Federation (BRF)

The United States National Team has training centers located across the country. Boston’s national team members primarily train out of CRI’s Harry Parker Boathouse and Harvard’s Newell Boathouse. Some of these high-performance athletes also train with the Boston Rowing Federation Program, which supports elite athletes on their paths to the U.S. Olympic team. Keep an eye out for the USA’s red, white, and blue or the flaming USA logo painted on white blades.

Boston Rowing Federation has two legendary rowers entered to race the Head Of The Charles this fall. Two-time Olympian and two-time World Championships medalist Kristina Wagner will race the women’s championship single. Wagner has medaled in the Head of the Charles women’s championship single twice, placing third in 2021 and second in 2022.

USRowing’s Under-23 Male Athlete Of The Year, Timothy Parsons, will compete in the men’s championship single event.

c. Union Boat Club (UBC)

Union Boat Club, the oldest continuously operating rowing club in the Boston area and third oldest in the nation, is home to many accomplished small boat athletes. Most of these athletes are Masters small-boat scullers and rowers on the competitive men’s and women’s sweeping teams. This club has helped develop more than a few world-class athletes, including three small boat scullers who raced at the Under-23 World Rowing Championships this summer in Duisburg, Germany. Union’s athletes have raced for more than a century with their regal blue oars, halved by a white triangular stripe.

d. Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT)

MIT’s blades are impossible to miss. The Engineers’ openweight crews glide through the water, propelled by white oars stamped with a bold red “T,” and their lightweight counterparts can be distinguished by the sideways “T” on the tip of their white oars. The recently renovated Richard J. Resch Boathouse, home to all of MIT’s crews, is the last collegiate boathouse on the river before the Charles River Dam at the Museum of Science, where the river merges with Boston Harbor.

e. Boston University (BU)

Boston University’s Terriers race with distinct bright-red-and-white oars. Rowing out of the DeWolfe Boathouse, BU’s crews have a prime practice location as they prepare for the Head of the Charles. This three-mile race starts right at the Terriers’ boathouse, and continues under the beloved painted train bridge that crosses the river a mere few boat lengths upstream.

f. Riverside Boat Club (RBC)

Riverside Boat Club is home to many accomplished Masters athletes. In addition to its distinguished adult athletes, it is home to a small but mighty youth rowing program. Athletes from every corner of RBC race shells in a variety of sizes and colors, all with the same blue-and-white striped oars. The Stripes will be on full display at the Head of the Charles, as the club has entered 72 boats in this year’s competition.

This year, two-time U.S. National Team member and three-time gold medalist in the women’s lightweight single at the Head of the Charles, Elizabeth Martin, will attempt to defend her 2025 gold medal. Martin also won the women’s lightweight single at the event in 2021 and 2024. In the women’s championship double, Sarah Maietta will be racing for the Stripes. Maietta is an alumna of Boston University’s lightweight rowing program, a three-time U.S. National teamer, three-time World Championships medalist, and three-time Head of the Charles medalist.

g. Simmons University

Sharing a boathouse with RBC, the Simmons Sharks attack the river with oars of regal blue and a diagonal yellow stripe. Founded in 1978, Simmons used to train in Harvard-Radcliffe’s Weld Boathouse. Once coached by the late legend Nik Kurmakov, the Sharks’ V8+ won silver at the 2008 Head of the Charles. Since Kurmakov’s passing, the Riverside and Simmons community has hosted the annual Head of the Kurmakov on the Charles to honor his legendary coaching career.

h. Cambridge Boat Club (CBC)

Cambridge Boat Club is home to a plethora of talented youth and Masters athletes. This prestigious club races with white-tipped, baby blue oars. There will be no shortage of CBC athletes at the Head of the Charles this year, as the program topped the charts with its 75 entries. The club’s beautifully decorated boathouse overlooks the Eliot Bridge turn near the end of the Head Of The Charles’ iconic course.

A legend of Boston’s rowing community, CBC’s Greg Benning, will return to the Charles once more. Benning, who is 63 years old, has won the Head of the Charles 25 times, and has continued to break course records – often his own. With his rightfully earned No. 1 bow card, Benning will be first to start in the veteran I division of the men’s grand master/veteran single.

Teammates Maggie Fellows and Emily Kallfelz will compete in the women’s championship single this year at The Charles. Fellows is a four-time U.S. National Team member and won the women’s single championship in 2021. Kallfelz, an 11-time U.S. National Team member, five-time World Championships medalist, Olympian, and winner of the women’s championship single at the 2022 Head Of The Charles, will start first this year.

In the para inclusion double sculls event, seven-time US National Team member Mary Nabel will race with doubles partner Andrew Wigren. Nabel is a three-time World Rowing Championships medalist and won the women’s lightweight single event at the 2013 Head of the Charles.

i. Northeastern University (NUBC)

Northeastern’s Huskies row with mirror-image oars between the male and female teams. The men, who celebrated the team’s 50th anniversary in 2025, can be spotted pulling oars with black blocks on either end and central white-and-red stripes. The women, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, row with oars painted in reverse: white with a central black-and-red striped pattern.

j. Community Rowing Inc. (CRI)

Community Rowing Inc. has the largest boathouse on the river and is home to the largest fleet of rowing shells in North America. CRI’s red oars with a black wave are a common sight on the Charles. CRI’s Harry Parker Boathouse hosts a variety of high-performing youth, Masters, learn-to-row, military, and para rowing programs. Through CRI’s programs, hundreds of people have learned to row on the Charles. CRI has registered 59 boats for the Head of the Charles this year, so there will be no shortage of the red, white, and black oars gliding down the river.

k. Boston College (BC)

Boston College’s athletes row off the docks of the CRI’s legendary Harry Parker Boathouse, and can be identified by their oars with gold crosses set into maroon blades. The Eagles’ female crews race in the NCAA Division I in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the men’s team began in 1987 as a competitive club team. The men compete as a club team as a part of the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA).

l. Wellesley College

Wellesley College’s rowing team is the last boathouse on this stretch of river, farthest upstream of the Head of the Charles finish line before it narrows and becomes creek-like for miles. At the mouth of “the pond,” the women of Wellesley can be seen practicing the course in reverse, with oars almost reminiscent of the BU red-and-white split oars. In fitting fashion, the Blue pull blue-and-white split oars with a darker blue dividing strip down the center.

—Staff writer Micah John can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Anat Goldstein can be reached at [email protected].