For Amanda Eldridge, 22, and Kasandra Gonet, 20, river boat racing runs deep.

“We got into it because our dads had done it together for years and years,” said Eldridge of their fathers, Jeff Eldridge and Walter Gonet.

The two men grew up together and raised their daughters together.

“Our dads are best friends…and then we kind of just became best friends,” said Eldridge.

This year marked the pair’s 10^th as partners in the annual Rochester Memorial Day Boat Race, and they likely clinched their third win in a row in the women’s division.

From their start as elementary school kids, Eldridge and Gonet have done well in the competition. They first competed in the girls’ division where, one year, they broke the record for fastest boat in their age group. They also won once or twice.

Now in the women’s category, the two have set themselves apart as the team to beat in their trusty river racer, made by Eldridge’s dad.

“My dad has been making river boats for years,” said Eldridge. “It’s kind of just his thing.”

This year was the young women’s sixth in the boat, and they started out as boat 22.

Before the race Eldridge said, “Knock on wood, it’s lasted us up to this point.”

While their dads have won several races together, the women say they never got pressured to perform.

“They know our potential, so they push us, but they’re not competitive,” said Gonet.

Competition can get tough on the water with more than 50 boats paddling from Rochester to Mattapoisett on the narrow Mattapoisett River.

Despite coming in on top more times than not, Eldridge and Gonet say they’re not particularly competitive…not usually. This year, however, the pressure was on. In the boat race, three consecutive wins is a special accomplishment and comes with a plaque, and naturally, the women wanted to win it.

The best friends didn't have as much time to practice as they would have liked. Eldridge graduates from Bristol Community College’s nursing program next week, and Gonet is a nursing student at Fitchburg State University.

“Unfortunately, school has become the priority,” said Gonet.

But with so many years behind them, Gonet and Eldridge have a rhythm.

“Communication is just a big part,” said Gonet. “When we were younger that was hard for us. We would just argue. Now we can say a couple of words and we know what to do.”

With the river high and the rain steady on Monday, Eldridge and Gonet sped ahead of the competition.

"It was a lot faster than we thought. That was the fastest we've ever done," Gonet said after the race.

Although boat 23, with Chelsea Allen and Megan Smith, had hoped to catch up, they never got past Gonet and Eldridge – not that the two would have seen them anyway.

"We don't look back," Gonet said.

And judging from their time, they certainly didn't need to.

The women finished with a time of 2:16:11 and received a plaque in honor of Bill Watling for three consecutive wins.

Read more about the race and get complete results here.