ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's heavyweight rowing team will officially begin its 2024-25 season this Sunday when it travels to suburban Boston for its annual trip to the highly-regarded Head of the Charles Regatta.

"I'm pretty excited, having a fun year with a younger group that's sort of coming to age a little bit," said Todd Kennett '91, the Spirit of '57 Director of Rowing and the head coach of Cornell's men's heavyweight rowing team, during the For Stars Podcast media availability in early October. "We're getting the guys into a pretty good work pattern. We're really excited. You just have to love as your crew starts to grow into some spaces, just kind of fill some spots that I think we've had empty for a couple of years. We'll see if they are able to succeed, but we're having a good time doing it."

Cornell will deploy a pair of championship fours for the Steve Carr Trophy that will race on Sunday, Oct. 20, at 12:40 p.m. ET. The Big Red will have two of the 18 entries in the event, racing against collegiate competition from Brown, Boston University, Dartmouth, Florida Institute of Technology, Georgetown, Oregon State, Penn, Princeton, Washington, and Wisconsin. Cornell and Princeton are the lone two universities sending multiple crews in the M4+. Additionally, crews from USRowing, the Fairmount Rowing Association and San Diego Rowing Club, and international competitors from Italy (Gruppo Nautico Fiamme Gialle) and Switzerland (Seeclub Küsnacht) are also slated to compete.

"It's a major training plan," Kennett said on Cornell's participation at the Head of the Charles. "We love going to it, but it's a pretty tough one because we travel there on Saturday, so we don't get a walk over the course. It's pretty tough on my coxswains, but the guys really look up for it."

Along with the pair of fours Cornell will send out on Sunday, the Big Red will have over 10 alumni boats participating in the event.

"I have an enormous alumni base that races," Kennett said. "We're boating 12 alumni boats off our trailers. For us, it's more of a gathering and activity. It's more the community and spirit of the event. We look forward to the true test when we get to the spring in terms of actual speeds, but it's still a lot of fun for us."

Michael Grady '19, a Cornell heavyweight rowing alum, will be honored at the Head of the Charles on Saturday at 5 p.m. on Attager Row for being named USRowing's Male Senior Athlete of the Year on Sept. 25.

Grady, who appeared in his second Olympics this past August, aided the United States M4- to its first gold medal since 1960. An eight-time national team member across the under-19, under-23, and senior levels, Grady also earned a silver medal at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, which served as the United States' best finish for a men's boat since 2017.

FOR STARS PODCAST FALL PRESEASON PRESS CONFERENCE


BOATINGS
M4+ (Bow #7): Sofie Cole (coxswain), Abe Litvak (stroke), Tony Klar, Geoffrey Miller, Kyle Howe (bow).

M4+ (Bow #13): Abbey Charlamb (coxswain), Thomas Kunkler (stroke), Walid Ghamra, Luke Brust, Constantino Oberto Calleri (bow).

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
12:40 p.m. — M4+

Bow 1: Princeton; Bow 2: Penn; Bow 3: Georgetown; Bow 4: Seeclub Küsnacht (Switzerland); Bow 5: USRowing; Bow 6: Gruppo Nautico Fiamme Gialle (Italy); Bow 7: Cornell; Bow 8: Boston University; Bow 9: Florida Institute of Technology; Bow 10: Oregon State; Bow 11: Wisconsin; Bow 12: Princeton; Bow 13: Cornell; Bow 14: San Diego Rowing Club; Bow 15: Washington; Bow 16: Fairmount Rowing Association; Bow 17: Dartmouth; Bow 18: Brown