Right after her second-place win at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Friday, Barbara Hogan had a brunch to get to.
“Of course I wanted to win,” she said. “But I came in second to an awesome competitor, and we go back and forth.”
The Head of the Charles is a historic rowing competition that dates back to 1965. Athletes, spectators and volunteers are expected to flock in the thousands to see collegiate, professional and Olympic rowers on the river.
The Regatta is about more than just a win to the Fairmount Rowing Association athlete.
“All of my competitors in the 70-and-over women are having brunch together afterwards,” Hogan said. “We all know each other and it’s all fun. But, you know, cutthroat out there!”
Now in her early 80s, Hogan is happy to be almost two decades into her rowing career. She topped first-place finisher Catherine Kemper in 2022 — but last year and this year, Kemper’s taken the top spot.
It’s Hogan’s 17th year at the Head of the Charles.
She splits her time training between Boston, Philadelphia, and Princeton. A bike ride past Princeton University is what initially inspired her to start rowing in her early 60s.
First, she saw the national team practicing. Then, “I saw a boat with older people ... and thought ‘Oh my god, I could do that,’” she recalled. “And so I signed up for a learn-to-row [class] and I’ve been rowing ever since.”
With a background in sailing and a love for the water, Hogan dove into the sport.
Since then, she’s raced the Eight, the Four, and Doubles, and at 65 she jumped into single races. She’s ranked worldwide for her 1K and 2K lightweight events on the erg. In 2014, she was awarded the Fan’s Choice Masters Athlete of the Year from U.S. Rowing.
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Each summer, in preparation for the Regatta, Hogan visits Boston to train under former Olympian Jim Dietz and champion rower Mark Wilson.
“I know the course so well, it’s like the back of my hand,” she said.
“I have different landmarks that are meaningful to me — ‘you do this there,’ ‘you do that there,’” she said. “I count to five, and it helps me relax, counting five strokes at a time.”
Rowing has become a family affair, too. Her daughter recently took a learn-to-row class in Craftsbury, Vermont, and her teenage granddaughter will even row on occasion.
Friday was a brisk morning to be on the water, a chilly mid-40s with “headwind the whole way,” she said. The annual event has become tradition for Hogan, who calls it the “premiere U.S. event,” something she looks forward to every year.
Before competitions, she likes to practice small habits to put her in the right headspace. “I listen to a hypnotist who does a ‘manifesting your goal,’ and I listen to that again and again,” she said.
