WASHINGTON, D.C. – One year after its run of eight straight Forster Cup wins came to an end, the Navy lightweight rowing team regained control of the trophy with a strong outing on Saturday versus Georgetown. Across the three-race slate of action on a 2,000-meter stretch of the Potomac River, the Mids (2-4) collected victories over the Hoyas (5-6) in the first and third varsity eight contests.
The competition began with a quartet of crews racing in the third varsity eight event. The 3V8s from Navy and Georgetown dominated the action as the Mids' 4V and 5V crews slowly faded away from the lead pack. Competitive for the majority of the 2,000 meters, Navy broke out to slight open water advantage and collected a 4.5-second victory, 5:41.6 to 5:46.1 over Georgetown. Navy's 4V clocked in at 5:58.9, while its 5V finished a 6:04.0.
The Hoyas evened the series at one race a piece on the ensuing event, the second varsity eight. Close throughout, Georgetown held off Navy at the finish line by 2.7 seconds, 5:50.6 to 5:53.3.
Looking to win back the Forster Cup, the Mids' first varsity was locked in from the start and had an aggressive opening sprint. Matching Georgetown's stroke rate over the middle portion of the piece, Navy withstood a final push and crossed in first place with a time of 5:42.2, 2.8 seconds ahead of the hosts' 5:45.0.
"We were pleased at the complete effort down the course by all our crews this morning," remarked head coach
Shawn Bagnall. "It was a positive morning in DC. Each week is a challenge in our league, and we knew that the Georgetown team would race well on their home course.
"The 3rd Varsity had a very composed race and started the morning for the team on a strong note. There's no doubt that our 2nd Varsity is disappointed, but that was the first race for some of those guys this season after coming back from injury. With our 1st Varsity, we had elements of our racing that we needed to improve on since our last time out. That crew was appropriately aggressive, and applied some of the "lessons learned" from our previous races, which was awesome to see.
"We are excited for each of our lineups to find the next level of their capacity for speed, as we head into our championship season in May."
Navy will head into the backside of its regular season next week with a road trip to Boston for a three-team tilt at Harvard. The Mids and Crimson will battle it out for the Haines Trophy with the MIT Engineers racing along as a guest team on the Charles River.
Â
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Navy – 5:42.2
Georgetown – 5:45.0
Â
Second Varsity Eight
Georgetown – 5:50.6
Navy – 5:53.3
Â
Third Varsity Eight
Navy 3V – 5:41.6
Georgetown – 5:46.1
Navy 4V – 5:58.9
Navy 5V – 6:04.0
Boat Lineups
Â
