'Rowing in Color' at the Head of the Charles

TAKE UP SPACE. YOU BELONG. THIS SPORT IS FOR YOU.

This year’s Head of the Charles Regatta made headlines for more than just the big names and exceptional racing at America’s most famous fall festival of rowing along the Boston and Cambridge banks of the Charles River in the North Eastern United States. An all black women’s eight took to the water for the first time on the historic course. Along with an BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) crew in the mixed event, these boats highlight the changing demographics of rowing in America and around the world.

World Rowing spoke with Denise Aquino, one of the organisers of these two eights about increasing diversity in the sport and the wild success of the podcast and digital platform “Rowing in Color” https://www.rowingincolor.com/ . Along with co-host Patricia Destine, Aquino hopes to turn up the volume on the voices in rowing that so often can’t be heard.

Amplifying voices

As an amplifier of unheard voices within the sport, Rowing in Color fills a need that many in and beyond rowing might not even have known was there. But it is a role that Aquino would prefer wasn’t necessary. “We don’t want to exist, our platform shouldn’t have to exist,” she says, pointing out that in so many other sports, diversity on the field of play is no big deal. “So let’s get to a place where we [in rowing] don’t need this anymore.”

With a growing listener base in 170 plus countries around the world, the podcast that started as two friends talking together about challenges, they’ve faced in the sport has hit a nerve with many who are able to see—many for the first time—their own lived experiences reflected in the broader rowing community.

“We want people of colour to know hey, you are not alone, you are allowed to take up space, says Aquino. “Putting a mic on and having the conversation out loud takes up space. We don’t have to be quiet about the things that we experience whether it is bad or good.”

“Race is not a monolith,” she continues, referring to the fact that embracing diversity comes with the acceptance that everyone experiences challenges or successes in unique ways.  “There are people on the pod cast who disagree with us and we want to amplify the discussion. We are not here to advocate, we want to amplify. Let’s make space for tolerance and acceptance.”

It’s a learning experience

As the podcast approaches three years since it launched in January 2020, Aquino says there are indeed many lessons she’s learned along the way.

“When we started, we thought it was just us,” reflects Aquino. “The more we did this podcast, we heard more and more people have similar stories. We are passing the mic, the narratives, the patterns that point to the problem and point towards a solution. Let’s better understand the problem by amplifying these voices and these narratives.”

“I’ve learned to be patient,” she says. “Change takes a lot of time. There is a reason this podcast and this platform didn’t exist before. We are unearthing systems yet to be fully understood. Being patient with the process, with my own learning curve. The point is just patience and knowing that even though to us it seems like common sense—Fix A and B outcome will be produced—there is a lot to do and relationships to build.”

An all black eight

When it came to motivation for organising an eight of all black athletes and another BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) crew at this year’s Head of the Charles Regatta, Aquino points to the previous year’s regatta. “We were at Head of the Charles in 2021 with a tent and it meant so much to people to see us there. So, we thought, let’s get out on the water.”

As with so much of what Aquino and Destine have accomplished, from a small idea, plans were set in motion and soon gained momentum on a national and even international scale. “Patricia did a phenomenal job organising and assembling these eights,” says Aquino, who is quick to highlight Destine’s lead role in the initiative.

For crew line ups, “we wanted people who had experience lifting up their communities,” she continues, adding that they wanted rowers with “more than just experience on the water.” They ended up with two crews with an impressive roster of barrier breaking rowers. The all black eight that included the first representative for Nigeria in rowing at the Olympics was steered by Corin Wiggins, another well known amplifier of diverse voices in the sport through her popular podcast and platform “The Black Coxswain” https://www.theblackcoxswain.com/ . Another young American rower on the rise, Maurice Scott, was one of many exceptionally talented community builders in the BIPOC Eight.

“These are people who bring value to the table and know how to do that without thinking about it,” says Aquino. “We wanted people who saw the boats to feel uplifted, to feel like they were in the boat too. We got lot of feedback, especially from young black girls, saying ‘she looks like me’.”

While this was likely the first all black women’s eight to race Head of the Charels, Aquino point out that they are not trail blazers. “We want to acknowledge there have been all black eights,” she says. “Nor do we want to be the first. Let’s get past the first. But at the same time, if this is the first all black eight for 96% of people we polled, then let’s get past it so we can all move the sport forward together. We posted the pole on Instagram. Over 100 people responded and 96% said it was.”

Take up space

Whether it is through these tangible moments of inspiration embodied in all black or BIPOC crews or the sharing stories of challenge and resilience, moving the sport forward is what Rowing in Color is all about.

“Take up space. You belong. This sport is for you,” says Aquino when asked about the podcast and platform’s most important message.

“We ask a similar question to the guests on all of our podcast: ‘What is the message you would like to send to the rowing world?’” she says. “Ninety-nine percent respond: ‘take up space’, ‘you belong’, ‘this sport is for you.’”

https://www.rowingincolor.com/

Photos: Aisha Kutter