PHILADELPHIA – The Navy lightweight rowing team continued early-season action on Saturday with a brief two-race slate on the road versus Temple. Entering their first and second varsity eight crews, the Mids swept both competitions against the host Owls on the Schuylkill River in dominant fashion by 20-plus seconds in each.
"Today was another day to pause and reflect on how lucky we are to get out and test our speed against a quality competitor," remarked head coach
Shawn Bagnall. "We continue to look to stay present, and enjoy each time we are afforded a chance to race.
"This was a week of "next man up" in our program, and I thought the team made the most of their training week to ready for our racing. Both boats today had strong efforts in the first half of the race, but also revealed much to work on in the coming weeks."
Â
The first varsity boats from Navy and Temple went head-to-head to start the day on the Schuylkill. Racing on a 2,000-meter stretch of water, the Mids began extremely fast and had cleared the Owls' bow by the 500-meter mark. Navy's strong start continued as it extended its lead to two-plus lengths by the halfway point of the race. Over the second half of the race, the Mids kept up their breakneck pace and eventually pulled away for a 23-second margin of victory, 5:45 to 6:08.
Â
In the second varsity eight event that concluded the day of racing, Navy and Temple's lightweight 2V8s were joined by a freshman heavyweight boat from Temple. In the three-team competition, the Mids raced evenly with the Owls and the HWT freshmen crew over the opening 500 meters. The Mids' lightweight crew started putting distance between themselves and the field as they nearly had open water by the 1,000-meter mark. They continued increasing its lead over the other two crews as they had a two-plus length advantage by the 1,500-meter marker. At the conclusion of the race, Navy was victorious with a time of 5:54. The Owls' HWT freshman crew clocked in second at 6:14, ahead of Temple's lightweight crew, who finished at 6:19.
"Our thanks to both the Navy and Temple medical staffs for their hard work to get things set for our teams to race today," said Bagnall in closing. "We continue to be grateful to get an opportunity to put on the Navy Lightweight racing shirt and line up against other well-coached crews."Â
Â
Navy will be back in action next weekend with racing on Sunday in Fairfax, Virginia against George Washington.
Â
Results
Varsity Eight
Navy – 5:45
Temple – 6:08
Â
Second Varsity Eight
Navy 2V – 5:54
Temple Frosh HWT – 6:14
Temple 2V – 6:19
Boat Lineups
Â
