“Let’s stop breaking records because of racial issues.” America’s First Black Women’s Eight

The Head of The Charles Regatta is seen as a bucket-list race. Thousands flock to Boston, Massachusetts each year to participate in the three-day festival of rowing.

It is an opportunity for alumni to tell stories of how they were quicker back in the day, but also for Olympians to share the same stretch of water as school children.

One story that will be remembered for all the right reasons was dreamt up by Denise Aquino and Patricia Destine, founders of Rowing in Color.

Their mission is to “amplify the voices of colour in rowing.” It’s born out of a place of not feeling like their voice mattered in certain situations, particularly in the rowing world and especially through the lens of their skin colour.

The pair made waves as their grand vision came to fruition. For the first time ever, an all Black Women’s Eight raced in the Club event on Saturday. In Sunday’s Director’s Challenge Mixed Eights an all BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of colour) crew took to the water, the first of its kind.

Amongst the women’s boat was Daphne Martschenko PhD, who herself made history in 2015 by becoming the first Black rower to compete in the Boat Race.

Aquino and Destine have created a movement that inspires athletes across the country. Prior to taking to the water, they shared a voice recording from a young high school rower:

“Everyone has teared up because this girl shared that she immediately started screaming and telling her mum and dad that there would be an all Black women’s eight and they all look like her and she said it wasn’t from another country, it was from this country.”

The two founders turned podcasters at the beginning of the pandemic, are determined to cement this as a catalyst for change in rowing. “Those kids and their kids are going to know that they were part of history. They were part of making a change in rowing.”

It is a change that needs to be made. Rowing has an image problem. It is seen as a White, privileged and elitist sport that is kept hidden from behind the world behind the walls of private schools. Only to be wheeled out for the Boat Race or the Olympic Games.

Through the work of Aquino and Destine, along with other charities such as The Head of The Charles & Philadelphia Gold Cup Grant Fund, that image is changing.

In 2022, societies continue to celebrate key milestones such as the one achieved in Boston.

“It’s time that a lot of those first are not based off racial or you know, religious backgrounds. It should be based off the records that we break more like 2ks or 5ks. That’s what we rowed for.”

Aquino goes on to say: “I look forward to the day when this isn’t an exciting moment. I look forward to when this is just a normal day in rowing.”

“The next generation is going to be able to put like 10 of those eights out there and we’ll just have fun. We’ll just be breaking records because you know, these women are just amazing rowers or amazing coxes and not because they’re the first Black eight.”

The Rowing in Color movement is doing far more than inspiring a generation. They are changing cultures and rewriting narratives to ones that reflect how our societies should operate. 

Fielding two crews at The Head of Charles represents real change on a stage that is viewed globally. Rowing is a sport for all and thanks to the work of trailblazers such as Aquino and Destine, many more will pick up an oar for the first time. They see the role models who raced this weekend and importantly, look like them. At that point, there is a significant barrier to participation removed.

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