Vets Head Race in London
In March 2017, 19 people, including rowers, coxswains, and support staff traveled to London and joined two other rowers already in the United Kingdom to form the NVRC contingent for the 2017 Vets Head Race. Friends from Hampton Roads Rowing Club (HRRC), Prince William Rowing Club (PWRC), and the Princeton Alumni Association joined the NVRC crews to enable the club to launch two boats in the race: a women's 8 and a mixed 8.
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The Vets Head, formally known as the Vesta Veterans' Head of the River Race, is held on the Thames annually by Vesta Rowing Club. It consists of hundreds of entries from local crews throughout the United Kingdom in addition to foreign crews from throughout Europe and a handful from other countries. The NVRC women's 8 finished ninth out of 16 boats in their category. The NVRC mixed 8 rowed in its own division.
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Lots of work went into the preparation, training, and organization of the trip. Hours on the erg, a few cold weather rows on the Occoquan, scheduling of flights and lodging all added together to create a great experience. Members combined sightseeing with the regatta to add even more to the fun. The Vets Head Race completed NVRC's first experience with a formalized offseason that including weekly erg practices, individual erg workouts, and competition by several members in February's Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints.
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NVRC returned again in March 2018!
A small fraction of the boats in the race
Several members experienced launching without a dock for the first time in the cold water of the Thames
"NVRC!"
