About the Hingham High School Crew Team

The Hingham High Crew team competes in regattas across New England, routinely winning an outsize share of medals. The team has also earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records and set four world records—all while nurturing a highly competitive and welcoming environment for the students of Hingham High School.

Rowing is the second largest sport at HHS, with more than 100 students participating each year. A three-season sport for both girls and boys, the program provides the opportunity for all students to participate by not making cuts and offering scholarships to students with demonstrated need.

 

Hingham is one of only 20 (out of 641) Massachusetts public high schools with a rowing program. This represents just 3% of all public high schools in Massachusetts and illustrates what a special privilege it is to provide a public school rowing program for Hingham High student athletes.

 

HHS Crew competes in the Head of the Charles and the Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association (MPSRA) and New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) championship regattas, among several others. The team hosted its own regatta in 2021, the first “Salty Bow Sprints” on the Back River in Hingham, which is now an annual event. The first “Frosty Bow Sprints” is slated for Fall 2022.

 

The HHS Crew team practices five days a week during the school year, rowing on the Back River in Bare Cove Park and in Hingham Harbor. The team also trains on land at Mass MVMT, Krigsman Yoga, Cycle Town, and on ergometers at the old town Lighting Plant on Cushing Street.

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About HHSRA

 

The HHS Crew team is fully funded by the Hingham High School Rowing Association (HHSRA), a separate 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization and member of U.S. Rowing. Founded in 2006, HHSRA has established a tradition of excellence in rowing in Massachusetts and beyond. HHSRA is fully operated and overseen by an elected board of members.

 

HHSRA is focused on a dual mission: to make the sport of rowing accessible to all Hingham High School students and to compete at the highest levels of youth rowing.

 

HHSRA employs seven coaches, operates and maintains a fleet of 20 rowing shells (boats), five launches, 30 erg (rowing) machines, and three trailers, with many spare parts and related equipment.

 

All money raised by HHSRA goes directly to supporting the program, including coaches’ salaries, maintaining and replacing equipment, and regatta fees. HHSRA is completely reliant on student dues, team fundraising, corporate donations, and parent volunteers to operate. HHSRA works in close partnership with Hingham Public Schools, which provides bus transportation to and from regattas.

 

If you have any questions about HHSRA, please contact us at secretary@hinghamhighcrew.com.

Click here to donate to HHSRA.

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Team Successes

The Hingham High School Crew teams competes in regattas throughout the fall and spring seasons. Check out the latest news about their races here.

 

More than 110 HHS Crew team members have earned collegiate rowers’ scholarships. Our team members have gone on to row and cox for schools including Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Fairfield University, George Washington University, Holy Cross, Indiana University, MIT, the U.S. Naval Academy, Princeton, Syracuse, Temple, UCLA, UMass Amherst, the University of Delaware, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Texas, the University of Virginia, the University of Washington, and the University of Wisconsin, among many others.

 

The Hingham High School Crew boys team is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for setting the world record for the longest time any eight-man rowboat has ever towed a water skier: 4:08.22. Stanford University held the previous record at 54 seconds, set January 25, 2004. The HHS Crew team more than quadrupled that mark on October 15, 2016. Rowers Tyler O’Connell, Andrew Sandberg, Brendan Chase, Geoff Hewett, Ethan Quinn, Jared Freeman, Jack Metzger, and Wil Mullin coxed by Jonas Fryer, towed team coxswain Cotter McCarthy. Watch it here.

The HHS Crew girls team holds four world records in rowing. In 2020, then sophomores, Ella Niehoff and Devon Moriarty, both erged for 34 hours straight to jointly hold the under 19, lightweight longest continual row title. In 2021, senior Cassandra Dasco and junior Helena Orth rowed tandem (alternating at two-hour intervals) for 50 hours for the under 19, open longest tandem erg world record. Later in the year, Ella Niehoff went for her second world record with senior Emma O’Horo for the under 19, lightweight tandem erg world record, also rowing 50 hours.

 

In 2014, senior Sadie McGirr set a world record for the 15-16 year old heavyweight category by rowing more than 20,000 meters in just 1:27:28. She went on to row for Princeton University and set another world record the following year at HHS Crew’s Ergathon fundraiser in the 17-18 year old heavyweight category by completing 21,097 meters in 1:25:40.