PHILADELPHIA - The future of Navy's heavyweight rowing program was on display Saturday with action at the 2022 Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. Entered in a pair of events, the freshmen fours and freshmen eights, the Mids recorded five top-four results, including a win by the Navy A boat in the freshmen eights contest. The competition in Philadelphia consisted of racing on a 2.5-mile stretch of the Schuylkill River in a head-style format.
Still young in their collegiate careers, the Midshipmen from the heavyweight rowing program were active on Saturday as they traversed the Schuylkill twice. First up were entries in the freshmen fours race. Going up against a field of 22 crews from the Northeast and Atlantic regions, Navy's A and B boats finished back-to-back in second and third place. The Mids' top crew went wire-to-wire in second place to Temple as the Owls clocked in at 12:59.471 versus 13:13.070 for the Mids. Navy's second crew made up time throughout its respective race as the Mids made up 3.1 seconds on the Loyola Greyhounds from the Angels checkpoint to pull even and eventually pull ahead for third place down the stretch for a 2.121-second advantage, 13:22.569 to 13:24.690.
In the second event of the day that involved Navy, the freshmen eights, the Mids' top crew was the star of the field as they turned in a time of 11:39.703 that bested Philadelphia's own Drexel Dragons by 2.544 seconds. Navy's depth of the plebe class continued to shine as the Mids' B and C entries finished consecutively behind the Dragons in third and fourth place with respective times of 12:17.320 and 12:22.423. They both clocked in third and fourth throughout the 2.5-mile contest. Overall, 16 boats were entered in the freshmen eights race.
The entire heavyweight roster will be back in action next Sunday in the final fall race of 2022, the Princeton Chase. The competition is tentatively scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at Lake Carnegie.
Results
Freshmen Fours (22 boats entered)
1. Temple - 12:59.471
2. Navy A - 13:13.070
3. Navy B - 13:22.569
4. Loyola - 13:24.690
Freshmen Eights (18 boats entered)
1. Navy A - 11:39.703
2. Drexel - 11:42.247
3. Navy B - 12:17.320
4. Navy C - 12:22.423
5. Temple - 12:29.741
