CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — 

The United States Coast Guard Academy opened their 2026 spring season on the Charles River against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The races were part of the annual Charles River Racing Series.

The first eight varsity eight rowed well, but after a difficult week that included two unrowable days and two barely rowable days, they did not have the crispness that they had demonstrated in Clemson. MIT moved to a solid lead by the 1,000-meter mark and went on to win with a 21.2-second margin. The 1V will use the race as a steppingstone for the season ahead.

Next up was the second varsity eight. A quick start by MIT intitially caught them by surprise, but the boat settled in. There was some raw power demonstrated by the 2V with freshman Noah Rodger (Tampa, Fla.) at six and the tandem of senior AJ Buzzelli (Acworth, Ga.) and junior Eliot Maravich (Pittsburgh, Pa.) at 3 and 4. While the results were not what they were hoping for, the team's combination for the race showed promise.

The final race of the day was in fours, with the remaining Bears rowers breaking down into two boats. Acting as coxswains were junior Riley Ritter (Charlotte, N.C.) in the A-boat and freshman Caleb Mattingly (Carmel, Ind.) at the helm of the B-boat. Both crews included several freshmen in their first 2,000-meter race, and they demonstrated some real promise for the coming season despite the new territory.

Boat lineups are listed below, and full results can be viewed here.

1V
C — Brent Fournier (Bedford, N.H.)
8 — Ben Dush (Henderson, Nev.)
7 — Nicholas Salvati (Monroeville, N.J.)
6 — Harrison Williams (Bellevue, Wash.)
5 — Damian Olechowski (Boston, Mass.)
4 — Eli Chapman (Daphne, Ala.)
3 — Seth Pettis (Columbus, Ohio)
2 — Lucas Guerra (Charlottesville, Va.)
1 — Thomas Skowron (Buffalo, N.Y.)

2V
C — Kimber Moring (Folcom, Calif.)
8 — Michael Lee (Cypress, Calif.)
7 — Charles Gord (Wayne Pa.)
6 — Rodger
5 — Will Griffin (Cohasset, Mass.)
4 — Buzzelli
3 — Maravich
2 — Parker Anselmi (Payallup, Wash.)
1 — Zac Gamble (Waterford, Conn.)

3V4 (A)
C — Ritter
4 — Mason Nims (Albuquerque, N.M.)
3 — Phillip Jones (Fairfax, Va.)
2 — Ty Lauritzen (Issaquah, Wash.)
1 — Matthew Turner (Brookfield, Wisc.)

3V4 (B)
C — Mattingly
4 — Nathan Williams (Beaverton, Oreg.)
3 — Colin Griffee (Seattle, Wash.)
2 — Jackson Curry (Bridgewater, Va.)
1 — James Hebebran (Gainesville, Fla.)

Bears men's rowing is back in action next Saturday, March 28th, with a home race against Wesleyan College.