Local breast cancer survivors ready to race in their first Head of the Charles

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October marks the return of the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston — but there’s another reason this month is significant.

October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And for the first time, the regatta will celebrate the resilience of those battling breast cancer with an exhibition race.

Eleven boats from the Survivor Rowing Network will launch into the water at 3:30 p.m. Saturday during the regatta. Eighty-eight women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, coming from as far away as Italy and France, will be rowing eights. (The number of seats per boat also symbolizes the one in eight American women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.)

Deb Smith, a member of the local Survivor Rowing Network chapter We Can Row Boston, told me she leapt at the chance to row in this world-renowned regatta.

“This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time,” Smith said. “I’m 63 years old. I’m not the greatest athlete out there. This is the opportunity for us to get out there and row the Head of the Charles course in a way that we probably wouldn’t qualify for regularly.”

Smith and her teammates told me that joining the wellness-focused crew has been transformative.

“Rowing gave me a huge amount of confidence, and I had never rowed before,” Susan Jacobs, a member of We Can Row Boston, said.

Jacobs first discovered the sport while starting chemotherapy in the fall of 2014 at Mount Auburn Hospital, the same time the Head of the Charles was underway.

“The floor where I was doing treatment overlooked the Charles, so I could see the boats and everything like that,” she said.

After completing treatment in 2015, Jacobs sought out support resources and decided to try rowing with We Can Row Boston. “I am in a completely different place than when I was diagnosed,” Jacobs said. “Just the boost that I could do it — and that I could improve —has been a big thing for me. The health benefits, too. I’m stronger.”

Smith also thinks the group has provided her with confidence, solace and community. “And for the most part, except for your initial signing up to join, we don’t talk about cancer every day,” said Smith. “That’s not the first thing everyone wants to talk about. We look at sunsets. We look at birds. We look at rainbows. But if something comes up, there’s this immense pod of experience.”

When it comes to this weekend’s Head of the Charles debut, Jacobs said it’s a thrilling (and slightly frightening) challenge. The average age of We Can Row Boston’s boat is 64, and many of them have never raced before. But they said they have trained throughout the summer, building up their skills and stamina.

“We always say row as one, and it’s the teamwork and support from your team members that matters most to us,” said Jacobs.

If you’re at the regatta Saturday, keep an eye out for the team’s blue caps and give them a cheer as they glide on by.

P.S.— Planning to swing by the Head of the Charles this weekend? Click here for information about road closures and tips to know before you go. I’ll be at the WBUR tent nearby the Charles River Watershed on Memorial Drive with Morning Edition host Tiziana Dearing and several other folks from the station. Come say hi!