ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy lightweight rowing team had a strong open to its spring 2021 campaign as the Mids swept three races from Marietta College on Saturday morning. Competing on the calm, flat waters of their home Severn River course, the Mids (1-0) defeated the Pioneers (0-1) in first varsity, second varsity and third varsity eight races. Saturday's action was the first head-to-head racing for Navy since the 2019 IRA National Championships as the program's entire 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We could not have asked for a better day on the Severn to get back to racing," remarked head coach
Shawn Bagnall. "It has been 664 days since our last race in the IRA Grand Final in 2019, and there was a lot of emotion on display by all of the crews on the water today. While this pandemic has proven to be a challenging chapter for our team, we were grateful to line up and race an outstanding opponent in Marietta. Both of our squads have weathered long stretches of pauses in our training this spring, so for both teams to line up and let it rip, it says a ton of positive things about the resilience of our athletes. Today was about getting back to doing what we love, and showing our third and fourth Class Midshipman what racing as a Navy Lightweight is all about."
A quartet of boats lined up and raced first early Saturday morning as the third varsity crews from Navy and Marietta were joined by the Mids' fourth and fifth lightweight boats. An illustration of Navy's depth and excitement about competing showed through during this race as the went one-two-three ahead of Marietta's entry. The Navy 3V crew placed first with a time of 6:08.0, three seconds ahead of its 4V, who clocked in at 6:11.0. The Mids' 5V came in third at 6:16.6, while the Pioneers' 3V posted a time of 6:36.1.
Building off that energy, Navy's first varsity eight went head-to-head with Marietta in the showcase race of the meet. The Mids led wire-to-wire over the Pioneers as they rode a fast sprint off the starting line to begin putting open water between their opponent from Ohio. By the midway mark, Navy was ahead of Marietta by two lengths before extending its lead out to three-plus lengths over the final 1,000 meters. Officially, the Mids defeated the Pioneers by 13.9 seconds, 5:53.2 to 6:07.1.
Navy and Marietta concluded the three-race slate with a tight second varsity eight event. Competitive and close from the start, the Mids started extending its slight lead by the 1,000-meter mark as they first cleared the Pioneers' bow. Navy held that advantage for the rest of the contest as it clocked in six seconds ahead of Marietta at the finish line, 6:06.3 to 6:12.3.
"Our sincere thanks to Head Coach Myhr and his [Marietta] team for clearing all the COVID hurdles and making the trip to Annapolis," said Bagnall. "We also want to extend a massive amount of gratitude to our trainer Abby Weiland and the entire Sports Medicine team at Navy for helping us navigate our protocol and keeping us healthy. We are excited for what is next."
Navy will be back in action in two weeks with a head-to-head road competition in Philadelphia against Temple on April 10.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Navy - 5:53.2
Marietta - 6:07.1
Second Varsity Eight
Navy - 6:06.3
Marietta - 6:12.3
Third Varsity Eight
Navy 3V - 6:08.0
Navy 4V - 6:11.0
Navy 5V - 6:16.6
Marietta - 6:36.1
Boat Lineups
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