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<\/p>\nNearly 9,000 athletes took to the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia this weekend for the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, one of the country’s largest rowing competitions.<\/p>\n
The two-day event, which draws an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 spectators, is the second-largest regatta in the country, behind Boston’s Head of the Charles.<\/p>\n
Elite competitors raced Saturday, while high school rowers took to the water Sunday, getting the opportunity to compete on the same course as some of the sport’s top athletes.<\/p>\n
For younger competitors, that experience is part of what makes the event so special.<\/p>\n
“Honestly it\u2019s like super hype when someone\u2019s like ‘yeah, this is where nationals was and you\u2019re like racing on it again,'” said Anyaora, a rower with Star Rowing Center in Derby, Connecticut.<\/p>\n
Organizers say the opportunity to share the same water as elite athletes helps inspire the next generation of rowers.<\/p>\n
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“Rowing is unique because you get to row on the same course, the same water as a national team athlete. So it really just encourages them to realize that this is a lifelong sport. And they can do this forever,” said Jenn Wesson, executive director of the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta.<\/p>\n
For some young athletes, rowing has already become a family tradition.<\/p>\n
“I mean, my dad and my sister race, and it\u2019s like, as soon as I was in that world, I was like ‘I don\u2019t think I could ever, like, not row,'” said a rower from Whitemarsh Boat Club.<\/p>\n
Another teammate summed up the sport’s appeal.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s very addicting,” she said.<\/p>\n
Keeping rowers healthy on and off the water<\/p>\n
While the competition brought plenty of excitement, the regatta also highlighted the importance of injury prevention in a physically demanding sport.<\/p>\n
Center City’s Zarett Rehab & Fitness was on-site offering free injury-prevention screenings and stretches to help athletes take care of their bodies.<\/p>\n
“Rowers have a lot of back pain. Lower back, upper back, shoulder pain. they really can get the full body pains and aches because it’s a pretty demanding sport,” said Jim Isihos, a physical therapist with Zarett Rehab & Fitness.<\/p>\n
Athletes also had opportunities to visit the organization’s booth and spin a prize wheel between races.<\/p>\n
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More than just a competition<\/p>\n
Beyond the racing, the regatta gave athletes, families and spectators a chance to enjoy a fall weekend along the Schuylkill River, with food, cheering crowds and time spent with teammates and friends.<\/p>\n
For many rowers, the sport is about more than individual performance. It’s about teamwork and the connections built on the water.<\/p>\n
“You\u2019re like rowing as like one team and like you\u2019re like one body and like you just need to work together to, like, get to the finish,” said Katerina, a rower with Star Rowing Center in Derby, Connecticut.<\/p>\n
It’s a sentiment reflected in a message displayed along the river: “Life is better on the river.”<\/p>\n
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly 9,000 athletes took to the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia this weekend for the Head of the Schuylkill…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70,33486],"class_list":["post-314257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-schuylkill-river"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}