Before many of you have even woken up each morning, members of the Cascadilla Boat Club (CBC) have already been on the water for practice. They arrive at the boathouse at 5:45 AM, practice for two hours, return to the dock, and then begin their school day. We see many of the team members here at IHS, but CBC also draws rowers from surrounding towns—even from as far as Corning, NY.
CBC was founded in 1977 by a high school senior, Neil Belcher, and a group of Ithacans who wanted to make an accessible rowing program. CBC officially began programming in 1978 and has continued to grow since then, offering camps and competitive teams for middle schoolers through adults. Located in the historic Cascadilla Boathouse in Stewart Park, CBC has even been home to three Olympic rowers, Caryn Davies, Andrew Byrnes, and Jake Cornelius.
Today, the Cascadilla Boat Club teams train and compete year-round, including at some of the most prestigious regattas in the United States, like the Head of the Charles in Boston and US Rowing Nationals in Sarasota, Florida. Three CBC boats are competing at the Head of the Charles again this year: a girls’ varsity four (Madeline Lewis, IHS ’28, Amelie Riedl, IHS ’28, Samantha Losseki Molingou, Corning-Painted Post HS ’27, Maple Hubisz, IHS ’29, and coxswain Giovanni Fortusini, IHS ’27), a boys’ varsity four (William Hackett, IHS ’28, Rowan Rae-Bognar, IHS ’27, Quint Brahler, IHS ’29, Hayden Matusiak, IHS ’28, and coxswain Nathalie Thompson, IHS ’30), and a boys’ varsity double (Owen Bolton, IHS ’29, and Linus Wing, IHS ’27). “We’re really excited to go,” says Alli Arndt, girls’ varsity head coach, when asked about the Head of the Charles. “The girls have been working really hard since about mid-August. A lot of them have been training since the summer, too, so it’s been a lot of work. It’s actually the world’s largest regatta, so it’s a really special event to go to because you get to see some of the world’s best racing, and we get to participate.”
The team is also prepping for local scrimmages and will compete in regattas across New York State throughout the month of October. “I think we have a very strong team this year overall, especially between boys and girls varsity,” says Fortusini, a coxswain for the girls’ varsity team. “We had a lot of really strong seniors graduate last year, but all the new people who just moved up to varsity are definitely filling in the gap well.” Boys’ varsity team co-captain Wing, also a senior at IHS, backs up this sentiment when asked about the team. “I’d say by the spring we’re going to be a pretty dominant force.”
The Cascadilla Boat Club teams compete at Head of the Charles Regatta on Sunday, October 18, 2026. A livestream of the full race will be available on YouTube.
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