Thousands of rowers descend on Cambridge for the Head of the Charles Regatta; this year, the event took place October 23 and 24 after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. For a trio of 70-something men, the return was a bittersweet reminder of past victories and a missing crew member: Charlie Hamlin (MBA 1978), who died in May of Alzheimer’s Disease at the age of 74. Hamlin, who represented the United States in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and at the World Rowing Championships in 1969 and 1970, continued to compete internationally after moving to England in 2000, reported the New York Times. When he returned to Boston in 2004, he joined HBS classmate Chuck Pieper in addition to Roger Borggaard and Fred Schoch to make up a formidable team. Dubbing themselves “the Four Horsemen,” the men dominated in their age class, earning a first-place finish for rowers 70 years and older at the Head of the Charles in 2019.

Teammate Roger Borggaard recalled Hamlin as a quiet presence off the water with a fierce competitive streak in the heat of a race: “You’d be dog-tired and he’d scream: ‘Let’s go! Let it rip’” he said. “Just energy coming out of him to make the rest of us get carried away with the moment and pull harder.” At this year’s Head of the Charles, Hamlin’s fellow crew members rowed once again—not to win, but in his honor, with a Viking helmet in the seat he would have occupied.

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