Row, row, row down the Charles River

D’Arcy MacMahon, 86, of Dartmouth started the Head of the Charles Regatta when he was 25 with a few other members of the Cambridge Boat Club back in 1965. He returned for the 60th anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 18 to compete again. 

He started the regatta as a fun event to have a longer race than what was in the area at the time. For the first regatta, almost no one showed up to spectate. 

“I had to write it up for the national rowing magazine and I said ‘Countless thousands lined the shores’,” said MacMahon. “It was meant to be a joke, since there was nobody there.”

Now the event is the largest three-day rowing competition in the world, with 12,000 rowers, 350,000 people watching and 2,400 volunteers. 

People from all around the world come to compete- the winner of the Men’s Vet singles race this year is from London. Olympians and those who row for fun compete alongside each other.

When people ask him how it feels that so many people compete in this race because of him, he says that while the event technically started because of him, he’s not the reason that so many people show up.

“It’s a bit mind-boggling,” he said. “I’m glad to see the sport growing so much, and I’m glad to see the Head of the Charles be a part of it.”

This year, he did not try to focus on winning, but staying upright. He rode in the boat he used in the first Head of the Charles in 1965, which he said is old and a bit rocky. He was also feeling shaky, as he had been practicing on a rowing machine and not in the water. 

Despite these factors, MacMahon was able to stay upright and beat a good number of people during the Men’s Senior Veteran, which he raced in while representing the New Bedford Rowing Center. 

MacMahon was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's, but he doesn’t want that to define him. He has heard from other rowers that the intense exercise of rowing has helped them, and he plans to continue rowing. 

“I’m just going to push on ahead best I can,” he said. 

MacMahon feels strongly that rowing is for anyone, regardless of age, gender or health. Many people participating in the Head of the Charles were also in their 80s and 90s.

“There’s a place for everyone in this sport,” said MacMahon.