EARLYSVILLE, Va. – The Navy women's rowing program concluded its on-water competition for the fall as nearly its entire roster partook in racing at the 2023 Rivanna Romp on Sunday. Taking on a deep field of strong NCAA Championship-caliber teams on a 4,000-meter stretch of the Rivanna Reservoir, Navy's fleet had 12 boats in action with its first freshman eight crew leading the way with a third-place result. Overall, Navy finished with four top-10 efforts on Sunday.

"We put some hard racing together to wrap up the fall on Sunday," remarked head coach Joe Schlosberg. "We have a lot of things to take away from our races and look forward to learning from and building on them for the spring."

The first race of the day for Navy was the Varsity Eights event. One of six schools entered in the competition, Navy had five of the 24 total crews racing in this session. Virginia and Duke, two perennial NCAA Championship competitors dominated the top half of the leaderboard along with Minnesota. While those three schools occupied the top-seven positions with multiple crews, Navy found itself in a battle with Louisville and UNC. Ahead of the Cardinals at the bridge checkpoint, the Mids were overtaken down the stretch and clocked in 4.1 seconds back with a 13:44.9 to 13:49.0 final decision in the battle for eighth place. UNC's first varsity was 2.2 seconds back in 11th at 13:51.2. Navy's second varsity posted a time of 14:18.6 that placed 17th overall between Minnesota B (14:11.6) and UNC B (14:18.6); Louisville's second crew was well off the pace at 15:01.7.

Navy's next action was in the Varsity Fours contest. Once again, the host Cavaliers, Blue Devils and Golden Gophers paced the field with a sweep of the top-13 placements. The Mids' top crew never cracked the stranglehold as they challenged the Gopher's B crew in a fight for 13th that went the way of Minnesota, 15:23.1 to 15:25.2.

The program's best individual result at the Rivanna Romp came courtesy of its top freshmen crew in the Freshmen/Novice Eights event that concluded the day of racing. Strong throughout its 4,000-meter piece, the Mids clocked in with a final time of 14:40.8 that placed them third overall in the field of eight, just behind Virginia A (14:06.3) and ahead of UNC A (15:21.7). Navy's second freshmen crew nearly made it two Midshipmen teams in the top-five as it was edged by Louisville's A crew by 2.9 seconds, 15:33.7 to 15:36.6.

Sunday's competition was the final on-water racing for the program until March of 2024 when Navy opens its championship season. The Mids will be looking to defending their crown as the Patriot League Champions.

Race Results
Varsity Eights (24 crews entered)
1. Virginia A – 12:52.9
2. Virginia B – 13:04.3
3. Duke A – 13:17.8
8. Louisville A – 13:44.9
9. Navy A – 13.49.0
10. Duke C - 13:50.8
17. Navy B – 14:18.6
19. Navy C – 14:27.7
23. Navy D – 15:28.3
24. Navy E – 16:37.9
 
Varsity Fours (29 crews entered)
1. Virginia B – 14:20.4
2. Virginia C – 14:34.5
3. Virginia A – 14:34.7
13. Minnesota B – 15:23.1
14. Navy A – 15:25.2
15. Louisville B - 15:29.5
24. Navy C – 16:10.8
25. Navy D – 16:16.9
29. Navy B – 17:05.7

Freshmen/Novice Eights (8 crews entered)
1. Duke A – 13:44.1
2. Virginia A – 14:06.3
3. Navy A – 14:40.8
4. UNC A - 15:21.7
6. Navy B – 15:36.6
8. Navy C – 16:16.9