But for the rowers themselves, the weekend’s regatta was a serious matter, the culmination of years of grueling training.

Jan van Dam traveled from Amsterdam to represent the Nereus Rowing Club at the competition. His group took first place in the Men’s Club Eights after a third-place finish last year.

“We didn’t expect to win—one of our rowers had been injured at the start of the season...but when we heard we were catching up to Harvard’s boat, we were inspired,” he said.

“Actually, we have to go pick up our medals right now,” van Dam added.

Janet Pollard, a senior with the University of Oklahoma team, said the opportunity to row at the regatta was an honor in itself, even though her team did not come away with a medal.

“Being on this course was special for all of us,” she said. “We pulled our hardest because we knew we probably wouldn’t be able to return next year.”

Mike Malcos, whose daughter is a rower, has spent the Head of the Charles weekend cheering on the banks since 1995.

“I kind of forced her into it when she was a freshman in high school, but luckily, she fell in love with it,” he said. “We’ve been to the Henley Women’s Regatta [in England, but] this race is much more spectacular for the rowers and attendees.”

Kandi Finch, the event’s emergency services coach since 1977, sees a different side of the regatta.

She said she remembers disasters that include drunken spectators jumping off bridges into the river, a fried dough vendor with a burned hand, a child with a Cheerio lodged up his nose and a mounted police officer hit by a car.

On Wednesday, before the regatta began, a sculler was seriously injured when his one-person skull was hit by an eight-man shell, the Boston Globe reported Thursday.

John Yasaitis is currently in good condition at the Massachusetts General Hospital, according to a hospital spokesperson.

A spokesperson for the marine unit of the Massachusetts State Police confirmed yesterday that an investigation is ongoing.