“The genesis of red sweats may for all time remain a mystery—unless a really good story can be made-up and passed down the line. Any story worth telling is always worth embellishing!”
All known facts about the mystery of the origins of the Navy Lights Red Sweatshirts.
When
From Bob Miller ’70 (team captain ’69-’70)
We got them in the Fall of my first class year. There was no explanation that I recall as to why red. If anything, I think it was simply to distinguish from the heavies, and the lights were definitely considered second class in the boathouse, so it was probably not intended as a compliment. No recollection at all of any USMC connection.
How
The red sweats were initially issued as part of the team gear issue. Each shirt was serialized with a number printed above “CREW” and below the arched letters “N. A. A. A.” Sweats were returned every spring to gear issue at the end of the rowing season.
In following seasons, only a limited number of new sweats were issued. The new sweats were issued to the upper classes, the lower classes were issued sweats which had been worn in previous years. Sweats were not routinely laundered as were the rowing trou, jocks, socks and t-shirts that were washed daily. Instead, the sweats were kept in the drying locker, adjacent to the N150’s locker room. The drying locker was also used by a few lightweights as the sweat box for pre-race weight ins. The more worn sweats had holes caused by the pins used in the laundry.
Why Red?
Hypothesis: Heavyweight Varsity Coach (position now known as the Director of Navy Rowing) Carl Ullrich rowed as a lightweight at Cornell, Cornell colors are Red &White.
Other Facts
In the fall of 1972, no new gear was issued due to an NAAA budget crisis. CBS canceled coverage of the Army-Navy game which had traditionally been played on the saturday immediately following Thanksgiving (yes, there were Friday classes!), resulting in tight NAAA budget strings. As a resolution to this crisis, Army & Navy agreed to slide the game one week later to the right on the calendar. Once the contract was signed, the new gear, including some new red sweats, was issued that fall by the team managers.