This past weekend, some 1,700 men and women gathered in Rockford, Illinois, to take part in one of the more obscure, yet fun and colorful sporting events one could ever hope to witness.  Sunday marked the 26th annual Head of the Rock Regatta, when athletes from across the nation gather to row their long boats, called sculls, nearly three miles down northern Illinois' Rock River.  This is an event I look forward to every year, not because I am a participant or even an amateur rower.  I'm neither.  I look forward to it simply because it is immensely entertaining. 

My next door neighbor used to be part of a local crew team, and because of him I have a greater appreciation of the hard work and dedication required of those who take part in this sport.  During the summer, teammates meet on the banks of the river or a nearby lake around 6:00 am, sometimes even earlier, for the grueling training routine.  Since this is an amateur sport, the participants must meet early in order to make it to their "real" jobs or classes which likely begin at 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning.  It's a lot of work, but the cameraderie, scenery,  and sheer sense of accomplishment make it all worthwhile.

This year's regatta consisted of 60 teams.  The sculls vary in size, with the smallest holding a single rower.  There are also sculls of two, four, and eight rowers.  Crews with multiple rowers include a coxswain, who does not row, but steers the craft and calls out orders to the rowers to help implement their coach's strategy and to ensure the rowing is properly synchronized.  The largest of the sculls are about 60 feet long, and weigh between 200 and 250 lbs.

Races that are called a "Head" race, like the "Head of the Rock Regatta",  are individual time trials.  There is a gap of about a 20 seconds separating the start of each boat's run.  All of the sculls must enter the river at the finish line, and row upstream to the starting line.  In the case of the Rock River Regatta, that is an upstream trip of nearly three miles.  The race itself requires extreme athleticism, and the caloric burn is comparable to that of cross-country skiing or long distance running.

A few interesting facts about rowing, from www.usrowing.org:

• It is one of the original sports of the modern Olympic Games. 
• Rowing was the first inter-collegiate sport in the United States, with the first contest between Harvard and Yale in 1852.
• A single-man scull may stretch 27 feet in length, but be as little as 10 inches wide, and weigh only 23 pounds.
• Dr. Benjamin Spock was on the 1924 United States Olympic rowing team and won a gold medal.
• Gregory Peck rowed for the University of California in 1937.

Now that you've accompanied this far into my post, I thought I'd share a few images from this year's Rockford race.  With apologies to the many real photographers on Open Salon, I offer a few of my own inadequate photos from the 2011 Head of the Rock Regatta.  It was a fun day!

********************************************************

 Boats in storage near the entry/takeout point on the river

 A Crew preparing their scull for the competition.

      It's a real logistical challenge to carry a 60 foot long boat through a large crowd!

 Sculls begin the three mile upsteam journey to the starting line.

 It's a flurry of activity along the river bank, with thousands of crew team members and spectators.

  Each team has its own shelter.  Pictures here is the shelter for New Trier High School, which is located in Winnetka, Illinois.  New Trier is one of the most affluent public schools in the nation, so I suppose it is no great surprise that they would be able to sponsor a crew team! 

 Most of the teams are sponsored by universities, but there are a few high school teams, as well as amateur municipal sports club teams.  Most hail from Illinois and nearby Midwestern states.  However, there are a few teams from as far away as the east coast, and even one team from Arizona. 

 Upstream from the crew team shelters, the crowd begins to thin out a bit, but there are still many spectators lining the river bank.

  Most of the spectators are on the left bank of the river, which is manicured parkland through much of its course through town.  The right bank is largely residential, and many of the houses are old and stately mansions.  Pictured here is the childhood home of actress Susan Saint James, who grew up in Rockford, and whose father was a very successful local businessman.  In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful houses in town.  I am fortunate to have been inside of it, because one of my son's best school friends lives there.

 I always enjoy listening to the coxswain's admonishments to his crew.  As this scull passed by, the coxswain screamed, "Did you think this was going to be easy?  Row!  Row!"

  You may have noticed the colorful leaves in some of these photos.  One of the nice things about the Head of the Rock Regatta is that it is always held near the peak of autumn color.  This year's event was unseasonably warm, with temperatures near 80 degrees.  Last year it was in the mid-40's and rainy.  Rowers prefer calm, chilly weather.

There are many large sculptures along the Rock River, including these shown below:

  This is called "The Rock Guardians", but the locals affectionately refer to these statues as simply "the rock men".

"Symbol", created by Alexander Liberman and commissioned by the city of Rockford in the mid-1970's to represent the city's industrial heritage.  

Many of Rockford's residents dislike or make fun of "Symbol", but it has grown on me over the years.  I especially like how its shape and dimensions seem to change significantly as you view the sculpture from different angles.

Another view, looking south.

  One of "Symbol's" neighbors across the river decided to install their own "mini-Symbol" in their back yard!

This is one of my favorite artworks along the river, reminiscent of a tongue of fire. 

 One of the newer art installations, located adjacent to the greenhouse of the Nelson Conservatory (in the background, and which is still under construction).

 No, this one did not fall down, it is meant to rest on the ground like this.  At least, I think it is.

There is also a beautiful garden along this stretch of the river.  Even this late in the season, many roses and other flowers continue to hold their blooms:

 The new Nelson Conservatory greenhouse is again viewable in the distance.

  The trees in the background are crabapples.  In the spring when they are in bloom, their aroma is intoxicating.

 It's mid-October.  How much longer can these flowers remain?

      As I walked back toward the rowers' finish line, I noticed these Canadian geese, apparently  oblivious to the flurry of activity surrounding them.

Goodbye, rowers.  See you next year!