“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. And any story worth telling is always worth embellishing!”
First known photo showing all in the boat wearing the red sweats – Note that the initial sweats were printed with “N. A. A. A.
Photo courtesy of Bob Miller ’70, Navy Varsity Lightweight Crew Captain 1969-1970. The photo was captured in November 1969 during practice on the Severn.”
Following are all known facts about the mysterious origins of
Navy Lights Red Sweats
When
Red sweats were first introduced to Navy lightweights in the Fall of the 1969-1970 season.
From Bob Miller ’70 (team captain ’69-’70)
We got them [red sweats] 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.
Why Red?
Hypothesis 1: At the time red sweats were introduced to Navy lightweights during the 1969-1970 season, Navy’s varsity heavyweight coach was Carl Ullrich. Coach Ullrich was a former Cornell lightweight rower, and since Cornell colors are Red &White the scuttlebutt among lightweight rowers during the 1972-1975 timeframe was that Coach Ullrich introduced red as the color for Navy lightweights in recognition of his alma mater.
Hypothesis 2: Another reason that floated through Hubbard during the 1972-1975 timeframe was that Coach Ullrich was also a former Marine, and he chose red for the lightweights’ sweats as a salute to the Marine Corps. However, Bob Miller ’70 stated that he had “no recollection at all of any USMC connection.”
And finally, Navy varsity heavyweight coach Carl Ullrich (1968-1974) and Navy varsity lightweight coaches LCDR Tom Althouse (1969-1970) and Major Warren “Skip” Sweetser (1970-1972)—who was also Navy’s Plebe lightweight coach during the 1969-1970 season—were all contacted and asked if they knew why Navy lightweight crew introduced red sweats and none could recall any reason.
How
The red sweats were initially issued as part of the team gear issue. “N. A. A. A.” was printed on the front of each shirt in arched letters with a serialized number printed below the letters. On the back of each shirt “CREW” was printed. Sweats were returned every spring to gear issue at the end of the rowing season.
In the fall of 1972, 1973, or 1974 a new version of red sweatshirt was introduced with the front of the shirt having “NAVY” as a replacement for “N.A.A.A” but again printed in arched letters, “CREW” printed straight across below, and a serialized number printed in-between. Nothing was printed on the back of the shirt.
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 weigh-ins. The more worn sweats had holes caused by pins used in the laundry.
Other Fun 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.