ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The three teams from Hubbard Hall and the Navy Rowing program will all be in action this Saturday as the Mids kickoff their slate of Fall competitions in Philadelphia. Participating in an abridged college-only version of the Navy Day Regatta, the heavyweight, lightweight and women's teams will have 20 crews racing in a head-style time trial format on the Schuylkill River beginning at 11 a.m. Hosted by Saint Joseph's University, Navy will compete against a field full of Philadelphia institutions in four different classifications.

The men's varsity eight kicks off the day of action with 11 Midshipmen crews racing over a 4,000-meter stretch of the Schuylkill River at 11 a.m. The Navy heavyweight program has six boats entered, while the lightweights are set for five entries. The women's team will break up its roster into three different events with four boats in the women's varsity eight at 11:15 a.m., one boat in the freshmen eight race at 11:45 a.m. and four in the varsity four competition at 12:30 p.m. 

The men's varsity eight field consists of 31 boats from Drexel, La Salle, Navy, Penn, Saint Joseph's and Temple. Both Navy and Penn will have multiple heavyweight and lightweight entries in the event. On the women's side of the ledger, Navy will be racing against crews from Jefferson University, La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph's and Temple over its three events.

Saturday marks the first collegiate competitions for any of Navy's three programs since late May. All three teams concluded their seasons at their respective national championships as the women qualified for and competed at the NCAA Championship in Sarasota, Fla., while the men raced at the IRA National Championship in West Windsor, N.J. The lightweight program highlighted this run of postseason action as the Mids won their first team national championship since 2004. Coming into the 2021 IRA National Championship as the top-ranked team in the nation, the Navy lights made sure that they would be coming back to Hubbard Hall with all of the championship hardware as the Mids swept all three classifications of racing on Mercer Lake. Taking on Ivy League competition for the first time in 2021, the Mids earned victories in the first and second varsity eight races, as well as in the straight four event.

At the same championship, the Navy heavyweights placed sixth in the Ten Eyck team point standings as a result of all four boats finishing in the top-10. Working off strong day one performances at the 2021 IRA National Championship, Navy had three boats in petite finals and a fourth, the third varsity eight, racing in a grand final at Mercer Lake. That 3V8 crew placed fifth overall in the nation for its effort.

The Navy women's rowing team concluded its three days of competition at the 2021 NCAA Championship by placing 18th in the team standings. With all three of its boats racing in C Finals, the Mids' performance was spearheaded by their varsity four crew that placed second in its event, thereby finishing 14th overall in the nation. Both Navy's varsity eight and second varsity eight crews completed their finals action with sixth-place finishes to rank 18th overall at the championship. The 2021 regatta was the seventh all-time NCAA Championship appearance and sixth straight in program history. 

Saturday's will serve as preparation for the Mids' top heavyweight and lightweights boats, who head to Boston next weekend for the 2021 Head of the Charles Regatta.

Race Schedule
11:00 AM - Men's Varsity 8+ (6 HWT / 5 LWT)
11:15 AM - Women's Varsity 8+ (4 WMN)
11:45 AM - Women's Freshmen 8+ (1 WMN)
12:30 PM - Women's Varsity 4+ (4 WMN)