- December 4, 2025
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“Do it for the girls.”
Anna Andert wrote down the saying and plastered it across the side of her and Maija Andert’s boat as the twin pair took on the waters at the Head of the Hooch.
They did their “Top Gun”-style high-five and took pre-race energy shots from Publix. All of this was to bring up the 17-year-olds’ energy before competing against some of the top 19-year-olds from around the country.
With the Anderts’ energy at a high, they set their eyes on the water and used “doing it for the girls” as their main motivation. They wanted to give it their all not only for themselves but also for the Orlando Area Rowing Society.
In 2024 at the Head of the Hooch, the OARS’ girls teams placed third in both the U17 2- and U17 4x. A women’s pair team from OARS had never taken home gold in the U19 2-, adding an extra weight on the Andert twins’ shoulders.
Until now.
The Anderts rowed 5 kilometers in 17:37.793 to place first in the Women’s Youth U19 2-.
OARS had three other boats return with medals from the regatta. The U17 8+ mixed boat, consisting of half girls and half boys, earned third; the boys youth/novice 8+ earned second; and the boys youth/novice 4+ took first.
The Head of the Hooch, often called “the Hooch,” is widely known in the rowing community for its size and intensity. It began in 1982 on the Chattahoochee River in Roswell, Georgia, and has since grown into one of the world’s largest regattas. The Hooch is held in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and holds more than 2,200 boats.
With about 20,000 spectators and competition from all across the United States, it’s the largest regatta the Anderts compete in outside of Youth Nationals. What adds to the regatta’s uniqueness is teams don’t have to qualify, rather they need a bid, and everyone can be in multiple races. There were 2,223 entries and 193 clubs represented this year.
The twins placed third at the Hooch last year and entered the regatta with ambitious hopes to win gold. A few weeks before the race, teams began to enroll their boats. The Anderts did research about their competition and realized how challenging the event would be.
“We were definitely a little bit shaken,” Maija Andert said. “We were anxious for sure.”
Their confidence wavered after they saw top teams, which had won the event for years, filling the lineup. Anna and Maija Andert changed their goal to finishing in the top five or possibly reaching the podium.
The pair hadn’t raced together since last season, and they weren’t sure how they would stack up against the other teams. Traditionally, the Anderts do sprint races, which are 2,000 meters, but for the Hooch, they were rowing 5,000 meters.
“Those (nerves) kind of just shut off as soon as the race started, and all I was worried about was just pressing and gaining some space between us and the boat behind us,” Maija Andert said.
For the first 4,000 meters, the pair was alone on the water with the sound of water sloshing as they trudged along against the 26 other boats in the final of U19 2-.
Once they approached the 500-meter mark, bridges emerged into their sightline, and as they rowed underneath, they saw the thousands of spectators standing at the top, peering down. People lined the bleachers and steps, screaming at the rowers from across the river.
That’s when they knew they almost were done and gave had a final push of energy to finish the long race. They were filled with adrenaline, and the spectators screaming at them added fuel to their fire.
At the finish line, the Anderts were met with the cheers from their coaches, parents and teammates.
“They were really excited because, of course, our coach believes in us and thinks we’re going to do great, but I don’t think anyone, even us, thought we were going to end up winning,” Maija Andert said.
They said it was a major honor to bring home gold for OARS.
“If we can do good and bring a good name for us and we’re bringing in a good name for OARS then that’s really what matters,” Anna Andert said.
The twins, who finished seventh in the USRowing’s Youth National Championship last spring as their first season racing as a pair, said winning the Hooch shows them the dedication and long hours are paying off. They’re already doing better than they did last year.
Their head coach, JonMichael Francis, allows them to practice in the pair more often at practice. They said he believes they have a bright future ahead together.
It’s given them a new sense of confidence going forward with the season and the recruitment process for college. Anna and Maija Andert said they initially were nervous about heading off to college and taking the next big step in their young lives, but now they feel ready.
“Getting to know the colleges and getting to build a relationship is making me a little bit more at ease and more excited for it because I can picture myself (there),” Maija Andert said. “But just being able to talk to colleges across the nation, it’s just like Anna said, it’s such an honor. I feel insane that I get to do this.”
The Anderts aren’t sure where they are going to announce their commitments. The juniors still are early on in the recruitment process. The twins have one main goal to work on before they begin their college journey: row below a 7:20 on their erg test, which is a machine that tests rowers’ capabilities.
Anna Andert said the 2,000-meter erg test is a “telltale sign” of how someone will move in the water on a boat. It’s important for college coaches to look at since it tests their individual rowing abilities, rather than how rowers compete in a team.
Maija Andert is striving toward pushing to consistently be the best boat. It’s a standard to which she holds herself, and she wants to show college coaches she is a strong and successful rower. Her goal this season is to make it back to nationals and finish in the top three boats. It’s made her antsy seeing College Signing Day and other athletes announcing their commitments, but she knows hers will come in time.
Individually, Anna Andert hopes to build on her confidence.
“So that way, when I hopefully commit this year…I feel more like, ‘OK, I am able to step up to the plate,’” Anna Andert said. “I’ll be able to come in ready to go guns blazing when the time comes when I go to college and I’ll feel just even more confident in my abilities.”
