Folks…
It was a good opening weekend for the Navy LWs with a win over four miles on the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, NY and strong performances in the Occoquan Challenge in Fairfax, VA.
On Saturday, tradition was revisited on the Hudson River with a re-row of four miles of the Poughkeepsie Regatta {forerunner of The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship Regatta} that was held here from 1895 to 1949. The Poughkeepsie Regatta also provides an experience that is quite possibly unlike any other that the crews will encounter this season. While most fall races are usually head-style races against the clock, this race will be a side-by-side competition for four miles on a straight stretch of the river.
Navy LW Coach Steve Perry, reported the following on www.NavyLites.org:
Folks…
It was a good opening weekend for the Navy LWs with a win over four miles on the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, NY and strong performances in the Occoquan Challenge in Fairfax, VA.
On Saturday, tradition was revisited on the Hudson River with a re-row of four miles of the Poughkeepsie Regatta {forerunner of The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship Regatta} that was held here from 1895 to 1949. The Poughkeepsie Regatta also provides an experience that is quite possibly unlike any other that the crews will encounter this season. While most fall races are usually head-style races against the clock, this race will be a side-by-side competition for four miles on a straight stretch of the river.
Navy LW Coach Steve Perry, reported the following on www.NavyLites.org:
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 patrolled the river to ensure 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 1015. 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 LWs 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).
Poughkeepsie Regatta – 4 miles
Men’s Lightweight Eights
1. Navy 23:25.11
2. Cornell 23:51.57
3. Pennsylvania 24:10.41
4. Marist JV 25:33.91
On Sunday, Navy raced at the Occoquan Challenge. The Challenge is rowed on a 3 mile (5,000m) 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.
In Championship 4+, the Navy LWs swept the medals, finishing 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6th. In Championship 8+, Navy placed 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8th with Virginia taking the Gold, some 2.3 seconds faster than the Mids.
[Full articles below from Navy Sports. Full results for the Occoquan Challenge are available at http://www.ronincorporateventures.com/resultseventlist.asp?p=default&pt=rowing&GroupID=19406&Year=2009]