HOCR — Scotty Schenck

Inclusion races give medals, more at Head of the Charles

By Scotty Schenck

Posted Oct. 28, 2016

The crisp night air rolled in on Saturday, Oct. 23. Kate Barrett, 24, gave her all with three other rowers during the Head of the Charles.

Off the course, Barrett is held up by two crutches. She lost most of the use of her legs after a skiing accident in Spain while she was studying abroad three years ago. In front of her is Natalie McCarthy, 29, who lost her sight when she was 11 years old. They sit in between two able-bodied rowers, who at any other time tower over them. Rowing coach Paul Casey and Olympian Austin Hack were the two able-bodied rowers on the team.

Together they were a singular, fluid unit. However, the differences in gender, strength and height required all of the rowers to adjust.

“Height is an advantage, but certainly rowers come in all sorts of sizes. The para-aspect just adds another dimension, something to think about,” Olympian Austin Hack said. He served as the stoke of the boat, sitting in the last seat.

And Hack’s height of 6’8” makes a stark contrast to McCarthy’s 5’3”. However, they spent the week before the Head of the Charles practicing and perfecting their rhythm.

Beth Noll, on the para-advisory committee for the Head of the Charles, is their coach. Another one of Noll’s teams from CRI features year-old Johanna Beyer, who moved from Austria almost three years ago. She had her leg amputated because of bone cancer. Barrett, McCarthy, Hack and Casey finished first in the inclusion fours, and Breyer and her inclusion doubles partner, three-time U.S. national team member Matt Wheeler.

For these rowers, it’s less about the medals and more about the chance to compete like every other rower. It’s about inclusion.

“Everybody who’s a rower wants to get into the Head of the Charles,” Noll said. “It opens people’s minds. It’s an important way for [para-rowers] to improve themselves.”

Left to right, Johanna Beyer, 35, and Kate Barrett, 24, talk after rowing practice on Tuesday, Oct. 18 outside Community Rowing, Inc.’s boathouse. Beyer competed in inclusion doubles on the morning of Sunday, Oct. 23 and Barrett competed in inclusion fours on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 22, both in the Head of Charles Regatta.

Beyer had her leg and part of her hip amputated when she was a teenager because of bone cancer. Barrett lost most of the use of her legs after a spinal cord injury from a skiing accident when studying abroad in Spain in February, 2013. Both are members Community Rowing, Inc., which has a fairly large para-rowing membership.

“The people here at community rowing are really supportive,” Beyer said.

Para-rower Johanna Beyer, 35, and traditional rower Matt Wheeler, 29, practice for inclusion doubles on Friday, Oct. 21. They came in second in the event. This was the first year for Head of the Charles features having medaled para-rowing and inclusion events. In 2015 inclusion doubles were an exhibition race, which Beyer won.

“It’s more attractive for para rowers to come if there are medals,” Beyer said. “If you row and give everything you have it should be counted as a race and not as an exhibition.”

Matt Wheeler, left, and para-rower Johanna Beyer, right, prepare to launch during their practice on Friday, Oct. 21. Wheeler is a three-time U.S. national team member who has competed in 11 Head of the Charles Regattas. Wheeler also said that Beth Noll, CRI coach and coach of the para-advisory committee at the Head of the Charles, contacted him about rowing in the inclusion event.

“There’s not much difference between Olympians and Para-Olympians. They both are the best athletes in the world,” Wheeler said. “[Beyer’s] a really good athlete. I’m lucky I got her.”

Para-rower Johanna Beyer, 35, gets prepared to launch during practice for her inclusion doubles on the Charles River on Friday, Oct. 21. She lost her leg in her teenage years to bone cancer.

Beyer moved to Cambridge to do post-doctoral work at Harvard in computer science and data visualization. She started rowing when she moved from Austria, two and a half years ago. Beyer said she got serious about rowing once she started preparing for the 2015 Head of the Charles regatta.

This year, Beyer is rowing with three-time U.S. national team member Matt Wheeler.

“It helps calm my nerves knowing I’m rowing with someone that experienced,” Beyer said.

They finished second in 23:00.369, less than half a second behind the first-place doubles team, also from CRI, at 22:59.982.

Beth Noll, right, coaches Matt Wheeler and para-rower Johanna Beyer during their practice on Friday, Oct. 21 on the Charles River. Noll said that when Beyer competed in the 2015 regatta, she was noticed by the Austrian national team, her home country.

“Johanna saw what it meant to be an elite rower,” Noll said.

Noll, CRI coach and coach of the para-advisory committee at the Head of the Charles, said that these events help para-rowers in multiple ways.

“What [inclusion] does from a social standpoint, people will notice that national team members are rowing with para-rowers,” Noll said.

In addition to the social advantages, it also is an extraordinary chance for improvement in the sport, Noll said.

“You can hear [Wheeler] coaching her. To row with an elite member of the national team, that’s an experience that most para-rowers will never get,” Noll said. “This is the fastest boat [Beyer] has ever been in. That, of course, is the goal of all of this.”

Left to right, Paul Casey, 25; Kate Barrett, 24; Natalie McCarthy, 29 and Austin Hack, 24 practice on Friday, Oct. 21 for their inclusion fours race on the Head of the Charles.

Barrett lost use of her legs from a spinal cord injury three years ago and McCarthy lost her vision from a brain tumor when she was 11 years old. McCarthy has also been on the U.S. para-national team in 2013 and 2015.

“I was diagnosed with a brain tumor in one afternoon and the following morning I was in surgery,” McCarthy said. “I’m at a point where I not only acknowledge it, but I’m beyond acceptance. I can proudly represent who I am as a disabled athlete.”

Casey is a former CRI coach and member of the Riverside Boat Club. Hack is an American Olympic rower who competed in Rio this past summer. Both said that inclusion is important to the sport.

“I was really, really impressed by the athletes in our boat,” Hack said. “[Inclusion is] something that can make rowing as a whole more positive.”

Kate Barrett, 24, rows during practice on the Charles River on Friday, Oct. 12. She lost most of the use in her legs due to a skiing accident in Spain. Through physical therapy, she has been able to regain some control.

Finding physical therapy to be repetitive, Barrett looked for a new way to stay active and looked to rowing.

“The sport wasn’t limited by my limited mobility,” she said. “I get to leave the crutches behind on the dock.”

She said being paired with world-class athletes push her and other para-rowers to “another level.” In addition, she said that inclusion events help with social progress regarding the perception of para-athletes.

“It helps to break down the barriers between para-athletes and regular athletes. Everyone is just an athlete,” Barrett said.

Corree Naslund, right, 32, guides Natalie McCarthy, 29, after their practice on Friday, Oct. 21. Naslund is the coxswain for McCarthy’s inclusion fours team. Naslund has been coaching rowing for 10 years.

“We have the benefit of being in Boston. We get a lot of draw and support for para-athletes,” she said. “I just see [inclusion] as another facet of rowing, another opportunity athletes have for competing.”

McCarthy has been blind since she was 11 because of a brain tumor. She said she’s familiar with the usefulness of inclusion.

“I started rowing in college on an able-bodied team. I’ve been rowing in inclusion programs throughout my rowing career,” McCarthy said.

Olympian Austin Hack talks to Natalie McCarthy during their practice for inclusion fours on Friday, Oct. 21. Austin Hack was going to the Head of the Charles for men’s championship eights, when CRI coach Beth Noll called him to ask if he wanted to be part of the inclusion team.

“First, he gave me a compliment, which made my entire year,” she said. “Then he gave me a tip … to prepare my body position early on in the stroke, so that it’s simple and smooth.”

Hack said that good communication on a team is necessary for success, as well as offering advice to other members.

“It’s fun for me to be able to offer that kind of help,” Hack said. “Anytime I’ve got something to offer without being overbearing … it’s my pleasure to do that.”

Beth Noll, excited about the help her para-rowers will get from the experience, gets giddy at this sight.

“It must be a totally nerve-wracking experience for her,” Noll said. “I’d be freaking out if I was in that boat.”

Members of the inclusion fours race from CRI pass under a bridge during their practice on Friday, Oct. 21. They came in first at the Head of the Charles regatta.

“We have differing abilities but everybody here’s been working hard,” Paul Casey said.

Members of Beth Noll’s inclusion four team row after passing through the Elliot Bridge at the Head of the Charles regatta on Saturday, Oct. 22. They won the race by 21 seconds, with a time of 19:37.897.