While many high schoolers use the summertime to relax and sleep in, Cate Cole, a rising sophomore at Marblehead High, is already in a racing shell by 6 a.m. As the youngest of a family of rowers, Cole has broken away from traditional flat water racing in hopes of being a champion in beach sprint, a dynamic discipline of coastal rowing set to make its debut at the 2028 Olympic Games.
“When you’re [at a regatta], there’s such good energy,” said Cole. “Different teams are helping each other. Everyone supports each other.”
If flat water rowing is akin to road cycling, beach sprint is the rowing equivalent of BMX. A regatta consists of a series of one-on-one match races over a 500-meter open water course. Competitors sprint down the beach to their boats on foot before setting off on a slalom around three buoys. After making a 180-degree turn and returning to shore, rowers run back up the beach and slam a buzzer a la American Ninja Warrior. It’s truly “blink and you’ll miss it” action, with races taking just over three minutes to complete.
Cole chose to take on the challenge of beach sprint this summer and has already been incredibly successful. In her first ever regatta, she qualified for the championship rounds of the Boston Beach Sprints late last month. The event, organized by the Head of the Charles Regatta, was the largest of its kind to be put on in North America with 94 athletes representing 35 clubs and six countries competing. Organizers hope to introduce the sport to an American audience ahead of its addition to the Olympic program.
“I went into it with the mindset of ‘let’s just see how this goes,’” said Cole when asked about her approach to the regatta. “I was asking everyone for tips. I read a book the night before written by the U.S. National Team coach and watched every YouTube video there is.”
However, Cole made it clear that her third place finish in time trials was not beginner’s luck. In her semifinal race, she beat a member of the U.S. Junior National Team before repeating the feat in the final to win the junior women’s single skulls class.
The result, along with a pair of class victories at the Melville Beach Sprints in New Bedford earlier this month, were enough to get her an invite to join Team USA at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Turkey this November where she will compete alongside Mary Baine, her opponent in the Boston Beach Sprints final, in the junior women’s double skulls category.
“It was definitely a shock,” said Cole when asked about her invite to Team USA. “I am so grateful to have this opportunity. I love competing and to do that on the world stage is really exciting.”
Cole hopes to have another opportunity to compete internationally at next year’s Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, where beach sprints will make their debut in IOC organized competition. However, her sights are not just set on Turkey, Dakar or Los Angeles.
“I think it would be cool in 2032 to go to the Olympics in [Brisbane],” she said.
With her first international competition just around the corner, Cole expects to bring hardware home to Marblehead for many years to come.
