Baylor crew will host Head of the Brazos regatta on from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday along the Brazos River. This regatta will be the second one held by the student organization.
The 5K race will begin above the Herring bridge and will end at the crew boathouse, located just to the left of the Ferrell center. The regatta is held every fall for collegiate, junior and master level rowers, according to the Baylor crew website.
Las Vegas senior and Crew president Gretchen Mikulich said there will be approximately 20 competing clubs from across Texas participating in Saturday’s race. The clubs include the Austin rowing club, Texas Christian University crew and Rice University Rowing club. Mikulich added that there are approximately 300 boats signed up.
“We have quite a few people. They’re not all schools. We have a lot of schools like SMU, UT and LSU,” Mikulich said. “But then we have Austin rowing club, Texas rowing center, a bunch of different other organizations that anyone that is not in school can go and compete in.”
Mikulich added that Saturday’s regatta is broken into 42 events throughout the whole day. She added that everyone signs up for a race that they can compete in.
“There are a bunch of different races for everyone and you kind of compete in against people in your similar class,” Mikulich said.
Mikulich said students and the Baylor community should come to the race Saturday because regattas are not common events most people attend.
“We have a perfect river for it – plenty of bridges to view from – so it’s really ideal,” Mikulich said. “Our river is ideal for rowing, so that’s a big reason why we invite people to come down here.”
Saturday’s regatta will be completely run by the students who are in crew. Organization members are in charge of everything from timing races, collecting the funds and registration.
“We are probably the largest student run regatta in the nation,” Mikulich said. “We’re actually the only regatta in Texas that is a full 5K.”
Austin junior Kat White, who will be competing in Saturday’s regatta, said she is really excited about the race because she enjoys adding competition to rowing.
“I’m really excited about it being a 5K, and also just getting to race,” White said.
White added that her favorite part of competing with her team is getting to do the activity with people who are like family.
“It’s really fun to have this group of people that you always get to hang out with and work together for a common goal,” White said.
Mikulich said this community attitude is the exact reason students should look into joining Crew.
“This is a chance to be part of a team that’s competitive and its what you do on a daily basis,” Mikulich said. “We’re also a team family.”
White said students should join crew because it is a unique sport to be a part of.
“The community is awesome and it’s really a strong thing to be a part of,” White said.
