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A race-by-race look at the 2014 Head of the Charles Regatta

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff file photo

SATURDAY

MEN’S SENIOR VETERAN SINGLES I and II, 70 PLUS (8 a.m.): Defending titlists Landon Carter (70-74), Carlo Zezza (75-79), and Richard Kendall (80-infinity) are the men to beat. Chuck Cook and Robert Lee, up from the veterans category, are the new kids on the block, and Ben Jones will contend at the 75-79 level.

WOMEN’S SENIOR VETERAN SINGLES I and II, 70 PLUS and VETERAN SINGLES I and II (8:20 a.m.): All of the champions are back — veterans Catherine Widgery (60-64) and Susan Kinne (65-69), senior veterans Brooke Stevens (70-74) and Judith Gillern (75-79), and grand veteran Eve Green (80-plus). Harriet Cuyler will be one to watch in the senior vets, as will four-time titlist Catherine Kemper in the veterans.

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MEN’S VETERAN SINGLES I and II, 60 PLUS (8:53 a.m.): Gregg Stone, the former championship singles victor, defends his 60-64 crown while Bob Schumacher, last year’s 65-69 winner, gets a push from Robert Spousta and Tom Bishop.

GRAND MASTER SINGLES, 50 PLUS (9:20 a.m./9:42 a.m.): Greg Benning, who set the course record last year, is the clear favorite to become the first man to win three in a row since the fabled Larry Klecatsky posted his fifth straight in 1995. The Cambridge Boat Club’s John Tracey and Blair Crawford give chase. Saiya Remmler, who once ruled the masters ranks, defends her title against three-time winner Margarita Zezza, Marie McCormick, and newbie Charlotte Hollings.

SENIOR MASTER EIGHTS, 50 PLUS (10:06 a.m./10:27 a.m.): Marin RA, which pulled off an unprecedented double last year, is back for a reprise. The men will be up against former holder Palm Beach RA and Penn AC. The women, gunning for four in a row, must deal with previous two-time champs Etats Unis, the Olympic reunion boat.

SENIOR MASTER FOURS, 50 PLUS (10:46 a.m./11:07 a.m.): Cambridge BC, which set the course record last year while dethroning six-time men’s victor 1980 RC, will have to hold off the Olympians again as well as former winner Rocky Mountain RC. Marin, which claimed its first women’s laurels, will be challenged by three-time winners Orleans Sweep and Sculls as well as local Community Rowing, the original victors.

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SENIOR MASTER DOUBLES, 50 PLUS (11:34 a.m./11:51 a.m.): Dan Gorriaran and Michael Smith, who established a masters dynasty on the men’s side, go for their second straight triumph in this category after setting the course mark last time. Linda Muri and CB Sands-Bohrer, who set the women’s record a year ago, will have to hold off former masters champs Mary Mazzio and Cindy Matthes.

SENIOR MASTER SINGLES, 40 PLUS (12:08 p.m./12:21 p.m.): Should be a lively men’s tussle among Russell Cone, who’s bidding for the first three-peat since 1998, previous champion Jim McGaffigan, and Sean Wolf. Tina Vandersteel goes for her fourth women’s crown in five years with Mitz Carr and former masters titlist Lisa Weise in pursuit.

ALUMNI/AE EIGHTS (12:38 p.m./12:59 p.m.): Georgetown, which last year dethroned four-time men’s winners Northeastern, starts at the head of a pack of old dogs, while the Virginia women, after their fourth title in six years, will be chased by a Michigan entry loaded with former national teamers.

CLUB FOURS (1:18 p.m./1:38 p.m.): Union BC, which shattered the course mark last year while collecting its fifth men’s triumph in a decade, will have Holy Cross and Wilmington on its tail while Fordham’s women, who won their college’s first Head crown last time, again will have to handle Clemson and Boston University.

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CLUB EIGHTS (2:07 p.m./2:23 p.m.): Brown’s men go after a record fourth straight crown, with six-time champion Harvard et al in pursuit. Radcliffe, fresh off its first women’s triumph, will be in the mix with Brown and four-time victor Riverside BC.

MASTER FOURS, 40 PLUS (2:39 p.m./2:51 p.m.): Marin’s men, who won their first crown last year from back in the pack, take on five-time titlists Palm Beach, while Saugatuck RC, the four-time women’s champion, shoots for three in a row against runner-up Sammamish Rowing.

MASTER EIGHTS, 40 PLUS (3:09 p.m./3:21 p.m.): Kennebecasis and Molesey, who have owned the men’s title for the last three years, have at it again, with the Austrian Rowing Alumni an interested party. The Toronto Sculling Club bids for its fifth women’s crown in six years with former titlist BMA BC (Cornell’s alumnae) and British and Dutch entries challenging.

CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLES (3:34 p.m./3:46 p.m.): It’ll be a global showdown among Croatian brothers Martin and Valent Sinkovic, the world champions, Czech world singles titlist Ondrej Synek and Norwegian partner Olaf Tufte, the two-time Olympic gold medalist, Dutch Olympians Meindert Klem and Mechiel Versluis, US lightweight world teamers Austin Meyer and Joshua Konieczny, and Austrian counterparts Paul and Bernhard Sieber.

The women’s race also will be of planetary quality, with Olympic singles gold medalist Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic and former world doubles titlist Donata Vistartaite of Lithuania, Olympic medalist Chantal Achterberg of the Netherlands and Austrian partner Magdalena Lobnig (who won with Janssen last year), Dutch duos Elisabeth Hogerwerf-Inge Janssen and Marleen Verburgh-Dominique van der Pauw, former US teamers Taylor Ritzel and Sara Hendershot, and Riverside clubmates Sarah Schwegman and Marika Page.

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COLLEGIATE FOURS (4 p.m./4:14 p.m.): The Virginia men are going after their fourth straight championship with Wentworth and Bowdoin going after them, while the Miami crew from Barry, which set a course record last year, is up against former women’s victors Bowdoin and Trinity.

CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLES (4:30 p.m./4:39 p.m.): Norway’s Kjetil Borch, who set the course record last year, would be the first man to win three in a row since Greg Walker in 1993. The men in the way include countryman Nils Jakob Hoff, last year’s runner-up, Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand, and US world teamers John Graves, Ben Dann, and lightweight Andrew Campbell.

Kate Bertko, who displaced four-time winner Gevvie Stone last year, is back to face her plus former global champion Kim Crow of Australia and Olympian Kristin Hedstrom and fellow American lightweights Devery Karz and Michelle Secher.

SUNDAY

LEGS/TRUNK/ARMS FOURS (8 a.m.): Australian champs Balmain RC are back up from Down Under to battle countrymen St. George RC plus a couple of Community Rowing entries.

TRUNK/ARMS DOUBLES (8:08 a.m.): Sarasota County’s Betsy Irwin Mitchell and Cameron Sinclair return to defend against a couple of CRI rivals.

CLUB SINGLES (8:27 a.m./8:50 a.m.): Seattle’s Sam McVeety, last year’s runner-up, looks to move up to the top spot with CRI’s Anton Hoffman, one-time champ Aleks Zosuls, and former youth doubles champ Nathaniel Kelly giving him an argument. On the women’s side, lightweight Aisha Chow, Union BC’s Alice Taggart, Vesper’s Emily Maxwell, and Australia’s Olympia Ward are among those to watch closely.

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YOUTH SINGLES (8:27 a.m./8:50 a.m.): The men’s race is up for grabs among the likes of Mac Bendickson, US youth teamers Hector Formoso-Murias and Nicholas Tavares, and Britain’s Sam Meijer. Claire Campbell, whose sister Mary won last year, will be favored on the women’s side where the field includes fellow US teammate Emily Kallfelz, Irish champion Julia Vascotto, and Israel’s Irina Vorvoreanu.

YOUTH FOURS (9:13 a.m./11:54 a.m.): Long Beach, which last year became the first West Coast men’s champion, will have to hold off coastal rival Pacific and former champions Sarasota, South Niagara, and St. Catharines, plus Eton College and Belmont Hill. Seattle’s Holy Names Academy will defend its women’s crown against the likes of Saratoga and Winsor.

YOUTH EIGHTS (10:08 a.m./12:48 p.m.): Marin RA drives for a record five straight men’s titles, with British rivals St. Paul’s and Eton giving them a spirited go. Oakland Strokes, the reigning national champs, vie for their third women’s victory in four years against former titlists Saratoga and Community Rowing.

MASTER SINGLES, 30 PLUS (10:37 a.m./10:46 a.m.): Defending men’s champion Peter Morelli will have a posse chasing him that includes local scullers Sam Reiche (Union), Mike Farry (Riverside), and Drew Tennant (CRI) plus South Africa’s Zak Wood and several Brits. Shannon Kaplan, hoping to be the first woman to repeat since Lindsay Burns in 2004, will have to hold off Riverside’s Alexis Sneff plus a bunch of Dutchwomen and Aussies.

YOUTH DOUBLES (11:02 a.m./11:17 a.m.): Harrison Malec and Lucas Manning, Saugatuck’s national men’s champions, will have their hands full with Canada’s Braedan Rush and Jared Naar and a quartet of British rivals. Elizabeth Sharis, who has won three times, teams up with sister Caroline to take on Seattle national teamers Georgia Gray and Emily Delleman and Germany’s Annemieke and Anna Calina Schanze.

LIGHTWEIGHT SINGLES (11:32 a.m./11:41 a.m.): US men’s champion Hugh McAdam takes on a couple dozen rivals including American world teamer Jacob Georgeson and Moyad Al-Suwaidan, the Head’s first Kuwaiti competitor. Caitlin Pauls, last year’s club runner-up, leads a women’s field that includes lightweight runner-up Kathryn Schiro, US world teamer Sarah Giancola, and a quartet of Riverside rivals.

MASTER DOUBLES (1:20 p.m./1:28 p.m.): Kevin McDonnell and Rob White defend their men’s title against former Danish world medalists Bo Vestergaard and Jakob Ojvind Nielsen and a couple of worthy Canadian entries. US Olympians Kelly Salchow MacArthur and Lisa Schlenker look to repeat in a field that includes former British national teamers Tonia Williams and Rebecca Caroe.

CHAMPIONSHIP FOURS (1:43 p.m./1:51 p.m.): Camp Randall (a.k.a. Wisconsin), seeking its fourth men’s crown in six years, will have to stave off US Rowing’s once-perennial champs as well as former titlist Stanford, Washington, and Australia’s Sydney RC. US Rowing, which reclaimed its women’s crown last year, is doubling down this time against the likes of Canada’s Don RC and a bunch of American collegiate boats.

CHAMPIONSHIP EIGHTS (2:03 p.m./2:18 p.m.): Even if the Dutch men were returning to defend their men’s crown it’d be a tall order against three Great Eights (sweep, sculling, and lightweight) stacked with Olympic and world medalists plus two US national crews, the French, Spanish, Polish, and Turkish eights and former victors Harvard and Washington. The women’s race will be a burner as well with a distaff Great Eight (including Olympic gold medalist Mirka Knapkova) defending its crown against the US world champions, the Oxford and Cambridge crews, and former winner Virginia.

COLLEGIATE EIGHTS (2:52 p.m./3:08 p.m.): Drexel’s men are bidding to become the first crew to repeat since three-time victor Williams managed it in 2009. The Ephs will be a barrier, as will former champ Virginia. Grand Valley State’s women, who claimed their second title last year, hope to hold it against Williams and Trinity, who’ve won half a dozen crowns between them.

LIGHTWEIGHT FOURS (3:22 p.m./3:31 p.m.): Penn’s male defenders will get a stiff challenge from four-time champion New York AC, which they unseated last year, as well as two-time victor Yale and the Canadian national entry. With Western University, which won the last two races, opting out, runner-up UMass-Amherst is the favorite on the women’s side, with a number of Canadian boats in contention.

LIGHTWEIGHT EIGHTS (3:44 p.m./3:51 p.m.): Princeton’s defending men’s titlists will be pressed by Cornell’s national champions, former victor Harvard, and Dutch and Turkish challengers. Minerva’s women’s champs, boating a new lineup, will dispute former champion Radcliffe and an Aussie entry from Melbourne University.


John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com.