To continue reading…
This article is exclusively for Rowing News subscribers. For as little as $5 a month, you can get access to the best quality, independent reporting on all the issues that matter to the North American rowing community.
Vanderbilt won the women’s collegiate eight, four, and frosh/novice four at the 2026 Head of the Hooch regatta, “the last of the great fall regattas,” Nov. 7-8, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Alabama’s club program was tops among the men, also winning three events, the men’s collegiate eight and frosh/novice eight and four.
Chicago was the top-performing junior club at the regatta, with three wins in the women’s youth eight, youth novice eight, and collegiate frosh/novice eights. Seven other Chicago crews recorded top-10 finishes.
High banks along the Tennessee River protected the over 2,000 crews from 200-plus clubs from stiff autumn breezes. With the flow controlled by regatta sponsor Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the nation’s largest public power company and a federally-owned electric utility, crews enjoyed the sunny conditions in what is the last regatta of the year for many competitors.
Coach Nick Bickes brings Northville (Mich.) Rowing all the way to the Hooch because it’s “just an excellent regatta, we really enjoy it. It’s been a good culminating regatta for our kids and for our masters.” Northville Rowing, founded in 2009 by a father and two sons, now has a roster boasting over 100 high school rowers and 45 middle schoolers, according to Bickes, who said multiple crew performing well enough to come back next year was the competitive highlight of the regatta.
“A lot of effort, a lot of support from parents, and just finding passionate kids who want to do it,” said Bickes. “It’s going really well.”
