CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - Eight women with decades of life experience between them are showing up to make history on the Charles River.
Rowers from Marin County, California, are the first all-women’s crew of rowers in their 80s to compete in an eight-person boat at the Regatta.
“This is just over the top,” Arlene Killpack said. “It’s been so many years since I’ve been here. I cannot believe I have the opportunity to come back at my age, at 85. Come back and row on this river with my teammates.”
This is about more than just the race. Many of these women have spent years, even decades, rowing and training together.
“Through the ups and downs in life,” Barbara Berling said. “We’ve stuck together.”
“We’re best friends,” Killpack said. “We’re best friends, and we really trust each other in the boat. We know how each other rows, and we’ve stuck together, and here we are!”
Their journey also comes from a different era for women in sports. They grew up before Title IX, the federal law that helped expand athletic opportunities for women and girls.
Now, they’re showing the next generation what’s possible.
“We’re also pre-Title IX,” Killpack said. “We’re not used to all this attention.”
“None of us had the opportunity to row in college; most of us started when we were 50,” Berling said.
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