Parents and Friends of Navy,
I apologize for my delay introducing myself. This summer I was appointed
the honor of coaching the Navy lightweight crew. I have had the pleasure of
teaching the men on the team more about rowing and themselves for the past
month. This weekend we begin our fall racing. I wanted to send an update
to let you know how things are proceeding.
Saturday we raced on the Hudson River in a re-row of the Poughkeepsie
Regatta forerunner of The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National
Championship Regatta} that was held here from 1895 to 1949
The race featured many of the crews that comprised the original regatta. The
race’s original stewards – Cornell University, Columbia University and the
University of Pennsylvania – competed and were joined by Navy and Marist.
Unfortunately, Columbia had to withdraw at the last minute.
The Poughkeepsie Regatta also provided an experience that unlike any other.
Parents and Friends of Navy,
I apologize for my delay introducing myself. This summer I was appointed
the honor of coaching the Navy lightweight crew. I have had the pleasure of
teaching the men on the team more about rowing and themselves for the past
month. This weekend we begin our fall racing. I wanted to send an update
to let you know how things are proceeding.
Saturday we raced on the Hudson River in a re-row of the Poughkeepsie
Regatta forerunner of The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National
Championship Regatta} that was held here from 1895 to 1949
The race featured many of the crews that comprised the original regatta. The
race’s original stewards – Cornell University, Columbia University and the
University of Pennsylvania – competed and were joined by Navy and Marist.
Unfortunately, Columbia had to withdraw at the last minute.
The Poughkeepsie Regatta also provided an experience that unlike any other.
While most fall races are usually head-style races against the clock, this
race was a side-by-side competition for four miles. Harvard and Yale’s
Varsity crews compete annually over this distance on the Thames River in New
London in America’s oldest intercollegiate event. While Oxford and
Cambridge do the same in The Boat Race.
This morning it was a rough, cloudy and rainy day. Dark skies were
highlighted by the faint beginnings of the trees turning along the scenic
Hudson River valley. Coast Guard, Sheriff and Police patrol boats trolled
the river to insure the least amount of boat wakes possible, but were
ineffective preventing rollers coming in from wind and tide.
The crews aligned quickly for the lightweight race (Navy lane 1, Cornell
lane 2, Penn, lane 3 and Marist JV lane 4) and the race began on time at
10:15AM. Navy, Penn and Cornell battled for a lead in the first minute of
racing with Cornell taking a slight advantage. Navy and Cornell began to
pull away from Penn and Marist while swapping the lead and strokes back and
forth. For the first 3 minutes Cornell got the better of the Navy
“Firsties” by moving out 6 seats as the crews settled into their base pace.
At this point Penn and Marist dropped off the faster Cornell rhythm while
Navy held in contact with the charging Big Red crew. At 4:30 down the
lightweight midshipmen challenged Cornell for the lead and slipped in front
of the Big Red. Just following Navy’s capture of the lead the water began
to worsen, showing the historically fabled strength of the mighty Hudson
River. Cornell mounted a charge and Navy responded by moving out an
additional 4 seats taking the Cornell bow ball. But Navy did not stop
there; they continued to push for more and distanced themselves from
Cornell. Navy did not look back and eventually pushed to a 6 length lead
crossing the finish line with a time of 23:25.11 (the longest race any
member of the Navy crew had ever rowed).
Richard Bates, father of 2008 Navy lightweight captain David Bates ’08, took
pictures from the coaches launch that can be found here
http://gallery.me.com/rjsb#100132 .
Poughkeepsie IRA 4 mile Regatta
Men’s Lightweight Eights
1. Navy 23:25.11
2. Cornell 23:51.57
3. Pennsylvania 24:10.41
3. Marist JV 25:33.91
Navy Lineup:
Bow: Michael Kerrigan ’10
2: Matt Smith ’10
3: Brian Scharp ’10
4: Brendan Mills ’10
5: Colin Edwards ’10
6: Kevin Mott ’10 (capt.)
7: John Paul ’10
Stroke: Julian Bowling ’10
Cox: Alex Duncan ’10
Tomorrow, Navy will race at the Occoquan Challenge. The Challenge is rowed
on a 3 mile (5000m) course on the Occoquan Reservoir in Fairfax, Virginia
and is unlike any other head race currently held in the United States. Not a
stake race, or a stop-and-go course, this race allows competitors to race
flat out on a fully buoyed course with several challenging turns. Both the
start and finish are at the same location. This event has become the
traditional season opener of the Navy lightweight crews since 2002. We will
be launching from the Sandy Run Regional Park (Address: 10450 Van Thompson
Road, Fairfax Station, Virginia 22039)
The race schedule will be:
Men’s 8 (5 Navy lightweight crews) 12:30PM
Men’s 4+ (4 Navy lightweight crews) 1:50PM
Directions to the race are:
South of Washington DC: To reach Sandy Run, take I-95 south of the Beltway,
exit at Lorton Road, turn right on Lorton, turn right on Furnace Road, right
again on Ox Road (Route 123), left on Hampton Road, turn left on Van
Thompson and follow it to the park entrance.
This is a link to the park website if you have any questions:
http://www.nvrpa.org/parks/sandyrun/
Hope to see you there..
Pull for Navy,
Coach Perry