On 10 Oct., the Army West Point Crew Team travelled to Philadelphia, PA, to compete in the annual Navy Day Regatta. The 2.5 mile course along the Schuylkill River gave the team an opportunity to race against some of the best teams in the Northeast, and to build valuable experience on the same course where the National Championships will be held in the spring. This early season regatta allowed Army to face the elite rowing program from the Naval Academy in the only head-to-head competition for the year against the Midshipmen. Despite being only one of the handful club teams at the event, Army West Point Crew rowed very well against larger, more experienced crews from NCAA DIV I Programs including U Penn, Syracuse, Drexel, St. Josephs, Temple, Rutgers, Lehigh, La Salle, Delaware, and Washington College
The team entered a total of twelve boats in the regatta, with eight boats finishing in the top ten for their event. Of note, the Novice Women’s eight started their race very strong in 4th place, close behind the Navy boat, while finishing ahead of St. Josephs, Lehigh, and eight other collegiate crews, including Navy’s second Novice entry. The Novice Women also took 4th in their four’s event. The top Novice Men’s entries finished 9th in the eights’ race and 10th in the fours’ competition. The Varsity Men fielded boats in two races with the first varsity eight finishing 9th out of 25 entries in the Collegiate Open Eights event, beating the DIV I entry from St. Josephs on their home course. The top men’s JV eight finished in 8th place. The Varsity Women’s collegiate four finished in 9th place out of 25 entries; they rounded out their day finishing as the top club program in the premier Women’s Open Collegiate eight event, crossing the finish line in 11th place (in front of Lehigh and Philadelphia). Given that most teams in the competition had significant advantages in terms of training time and professional coaching, the Army West Point Crew’s performance was indeed commendable.