April 12, 2008

PELHAM, N.Y. - The Navy lightweight rowing team swept a trio of races from Columbia Saturday on the Orchard Beach Lagoon in Pelham, N.Y.

The two varsity boats were even through the opening 500 meters of their race, but Navy slowly was able to build some space between itself and the Columbia crew to allow the Mids to go on to win the contest by about five seconds.

Navy's second and third varsity boats both defeated Columbia's second varsity boat in the race featuring the three entries. Navy's second varsity boat finished 10 seconds in front of Columbia, with the third varsity crew rallying from a six-seat deficit at 1,000 meters to edge the Lions at the finish line.

The opening race of the evening saw Navy's first freshman boat defeat Columbia by nearly three seconds, with Navy's second freshman boat finishing in third place in the contest.

"We had some tough races last week against Yale, but all of our crews performed very well tonight," said Navy head coach Rob Friedrich. "In particular, our third varsity boat rowed a very gutsy race to overcome the large deficit that they did."

After taking next week off from competition, Navy will return to action April 26 when the Mids play host to Harvard and Georgetown.

Varsity
Navy, 6:25.9; Columbia, 6:31.4
Second Varsity
Navy, 6:36.0; Navy (3V), 6:43.5; Columbia, 6:48.2
First Freshman
Navy, 6:36.3; Columbia, 6:39.1; Navy (3V), 6:45.7