Virginia Men’s Rowing had a weekend full of racing in both the Head of the Schuylkill and the Princeton Chase. We were lucky to avoid most of the bad weather and have great results!
The majority of the team raced on Saturday at Philadelphia’s “Fall Festival of Rowing” at the 47th Annual Head of the Schuylkill. Conditions were rather blustery, with a swift headwind building throughout the day. Despite rougher waters than at home on the Rivanna all 6 boats had a great performance.
Novice Eights (6th, 8th, 15th of 25)
In the late morning, three Frosh/Novice eights raced in a field of 25 boats. We had all mixed line-ups with pure walk-ons and guys with high school experience. We finished stronger than last year taking home 6th, 8th and 15th with respective times of 14:40.9, 15:11.9, 16:33.3.
Varsity Eights (3rd, 18th of 38)
The 2V and 3V raced later in the day in the Men’s Club Championship Eights. The 2V finished in 14:01.2, narrowly taking home bronze behind Drexel and UPenn. The 3V took 18th overall with a time of 15:04.4, placing in the top half of 38 entries.
Other VRA Boats
VRA’s lone women’s single sculler, Ashley Gale placed 18th of 28 boats with a time of 19:49.6 in the Women’s Champ 1X. Ashley posted fastest collegiate time, being bested only by a field of national teamers and post-graduate rowers.
Alumni Race
Last but certainly not least, the Charlottesville Postal Workers raced the Men’s Alumni Eight again. Luckily conditions calmed by the time they took the water in a set of snazzy orange shirts late in the afternoon. Going postal, our alumni finished with a raw time of 14:35.2, but again this year got bested out of gold by UPenn’s age handicap of almost a full minute. That Penn entry remains suspicious for several reasons, at least we know that all our guys actually hold a degree from UVA!
The team did a great job supporting each other, especially the new guys who are learning the routine and drills of competing in big regattas! Great atmosphere all day – and lots of parents supporting and cheering. Shout out to “Mother Hall” whose son didn’t even race in Philly.
Princeton Chase (13th of 37)
On Sunday, the Head of the Charles winning Varsity Eight raced at the Princeton Chase (they did not race in Philadelphia). They finished a solid 13th of 37 entries in 12:59.6, less than 30 seconds behind Princeton’s winning time—about 20 seconds closer to the winner than last year, and just 0.7” behind Navy, beating St. Joe’s (again), Temple, Holy Cross, MIT and Delaware.
Overall, it was another great weekend of racing! We have a short week of training before we head off to Indianapolis, carrying the momentum to race at the 2nd Annual Bald Eagle Collegiate Invitational. It’s a straight course with a bridge in the middle and a great chance to see our friends up at Michigan at the last regatta of the fall season.
Hope to see you all next weekend for Class Day Races and the Alumni BBQ!