Cleveland Rowing Foundation hosts the 30th annual Head of the Cuyahoga this weekend. Saturday, Sept. 26 is the one day of the year the working river is closed, allowing more than 500 crews to race the serpentine river for honors at the Head of the Cuyahoga.
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The men’s youth fours events and the women’s youth single have attracted the largest fields, reflecting the regatta’s popularity with junior, youth, and high school programs. Local Western Reserve Rowing Association has the largest entry with 41 crews, but Indianapolis Rowing Center will bring 38.
The regatta traces its roots to 1989, when the Western Reserve Rowing Association hosted the first Cleveland Sprints Regatta inside the breakwall on Lake Erie. In 1996, the event moved to the Cuyahoga River and changed from a 2,000-meter sprint to a 2.5-mile head race, creating what is now the Head of the Cuyahoga.
That first head race, held as part of Cleveland’s bicentennial celebration, attracted more than 250 rowers and an estimated 3,000 spectators. The event has since grown into a 5,000-meter race and one of the country’s largest single-day regattas.
Its growth parallels the return of rowing to Cleveland. The Western Reserve Rowing Association was established along the Cuyahoga in 1989 and began its Summer Rowing League in 1993. As rowing expanded, the Western Reserve Rowing Foundation was created to support the city’s growing collection of high-school, collegiate, and adult programs. It became the Cleveland Rowing Foundation in 2003.
The foundation moved to its current home at Rivergate Park in 2011 after purchasing the former Commodore Club Marina, a 6.5-acre property along the Cuyahoga with a 19,000-square-foot building. An additional 6,500-square-foot boathouse was added in 2015.
By 2018, the Head of the Cuyahoga had grown to more than 2,200 athletes and 525 entries representing 53 clubs, 38 cities, 11 states, and Canada.
On Saturday, the working river again belongs to rowers for a day.
