PHILADELPHIA – The Navy heavyweight crew team wrapped up its fall season with excellent efforts at the 2023 Head of the Schuylkill Regatta on Saturday. Entering six crews into action against a deep field of East Coast rivals, the Mids came away with three medal-winning performances, including a victory by its first varsity eight crew in the Men's Championship Eights event.

Racing on a 2.5-mile stretch of the the Schuylkill River along Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, Navy's third varsity placed second in the Club Eights event, while its plebe entry came in third in the Freshmen/Novice Eights contest to round out the program's run of top-three results on Saturday.

"I was proud of the effort of the whole team today," remarked Rob Friedrich, the Tom & Candy Knudson Director of Navy Rowing. "We didn't hit all of our goals, but every boat raced well.

"The first varsity had its best race of the fall season; the 3V raced to a close second place in the Club Eights race, while our plebe boat put up a good effort in the freshmen race. Most of our top freshmen were racing in the Champ and Club events so it was our second plebe boat, who won a bronze medal in the freshmen event."

Navy's best result came in its final race of the day, the Men's Championship Eights. Entering two crews in the field of 13, the Mids found themselves in a two-team battle with the Quakers of UPenn. Navy's first varsity crew led wire-to-wire with the fastest times at both the St. Joe's and Angels checkpoints before crossing the finish line with a time of 10:58.633 that edged Penn's top crew by 0.544 seconds as the host Quakers clocked in at 10:59.177. Navy's second varsity crew also raced in the Championship Eights contest and nearly broke into the top-five as it posted the sixth-best time in the field at 11:11.289. Drexel's first varsity rounded out the top-five at 11:10.840, just 0.449 seconds ahead of the Mids. Overall, Navy's second varsity was first among its fellow 2V crews beating Penn, Temple and Drexel's entries.

The Mids' third varsity eight led the program's effort in the Men's Club Eights event. Racing among 44 entries, Navy's 3V challenged for the gold medal as it completed the course with a time of 11:34.966, 1.059 seconds behind Penn's winning 11:33.907 time. Navy's 4V and 5V also were in action in the Club Eights contest and came in sixth and ninth place, respectively. Navy's 4V finished between George Washington (11:51.143) and Delaware (11:59.616) with a time of 11:57.111. The Mids' fifth crew's time on Saturday was a 12:05.430.

The third medal-winning performance at the regatta came from Navy's entry in the Men's Freshmen/Novice Eights event. In a fairly spaced-out leaderboard, the Mids' time of 12:21.592 trailed just Embry-Riddle and Marietta College, who clocked in with respective times of 12:12.479 and 12:17.019.

"The squad has some momentum going into winter training and they are excited to keep working hard for the spring season," said Friedrich in closing.

Saturday's action was the final for the heavyweight program until the spring season kicks off in March of 2024.
 
Race Results
Men's Collegiate Freshmen/Novice 8+ (15 in field)
1. Embry-Riddle – 12:12.479
2. Marietta College – 12:17.019
3. Navy – 12:21.592
4. Penn – 12:35.423

Men's Club 8+ (44 in field)
1. Penn A – 11:33.907
2. Navy A – 11:34.966
3. Penn B – 11:39.579
5. George Washington A – 11:51.143
6. Navy B – 11:57.111
9. Navy C – 12:05.430

Men's Championship 8+ (13 in field)
1. Navy A – 10:58.633
2. Penn A – 10:59.177
3. La Salle A – 11:05.290
5. Drexel A – 11:10.840
6. Navy B – 11:11.289
7. Penn B – 11:11.362