WORCESTER, Mass. – The Navy lightweight crew program kicked off its run of postseason action on Sunday with five boats entered in the 2025 Eastern Sprints Championship regatta. Racing in the first, second, third and fourth varsity eight classifications, the Mids finished on the medal stand with a pair of strong efforts by its lower boats, highlighted by a win by their 4V and a bronze medal-winning performance by their 3V.
After its top three varsity boats all put down qualifying pieces on the 2,000-meter stretch of Lake Quinsigamond in the morning on Sunday, the docket quickly turned to grand and petite final racing in the afternoon. The first boats on the water in this second session were Navy's fourth and fifth varsity eights. In a straight-to-grand final setup, the Mids of the fourth varsity were dominant from start to finish as they collected an open water victory over Cornell, 6:12.474 to 6:17.796. Fighting up a class, Navy's 5V was ready to rumble and battled Penn's 4V throughout the race and challenged for the final medal position before just coming up short by 3.396 seconds, 6:19.202 to 6:22.598. Finishing fourth in the race, Navy's 5V out-paced Princeton's 4V as the Tigers crossed at 6:23.778.
"It was awesome to see our 4th Varsity 8+ really put together a complete race and bring home gold medals," remarked head coach
Shawn Bagnall. "Our 5th Varsity 8+, with some of our proudest 1/C oarsman aboard in
Colin Dupon, Josh Kim, and
Alex Vester, competed in that same 4V event against other schools 4V's and were just short of a bronze medal. I'm proud of all that group and the work that they did, and Coach Herrick's hand in their preparation."Â
The Mids collected their second medal in as many races as their third varsity eight flexed their muscle in the 3V grand final. After posting the second fastest time during the morning heats with a 6:02.548 mark, Navy knew that it'd be right in the mix in the afternoon. The top seed in the grand final, Harvard withstood all challengers and won gold at 6:08.208 before Princeton, Navy, Cornell and Penn sprinted to the finish line within 3.39 seconds of each other. The Mids kept their nerve during this contentious finish and earned the bronze only 1.762 seconds behind the Tigers, 6:12.258 to 6:14.020. The Big Red and Quakers were just over a second back with times of 6:15.492 and 6:15.648, respectively.
"Our 3rd Varsity 8+ came in having had a pretty strong regular season, and they capped our conference championship with a great bronze medal finish in their grand final," commented Bagnall. "That's a young group of mostly Plebe oarsmen who we are excited to watch develop the next three years."
Navy's first and second varsity eights completed their respective days of racing in petite finals. Following their heat race that saw them post a 6:05.900, the Mids' 2V8 had the misfortune of rowing from an outside lane in the petite final and were unable to match the top end speed of Georgetown and Dartmouth, who went one-two in the race. Keeping in contact with MIT throughout the contest, Navy's last push came up a few seats short as the Engineers placed third at 6:09.886 versus a 6:11.222 mark for the Mids. Overall, Navy 2V8 ranked 10th in the conference.
"The 2nd Varsity 8+ worked with all they had this year, and unfortunately couldn't find the speed we needed to close out their championship," said Bagnall. "We saw some great strides after the Penn race from that group, especially in practice, but some misfires in the outside/gusty lanes had an oversized effect on their performance today."
The final boat on the waters of Lake Quinsigamond, Navy's first varsity eight had an up-and-down day as it struggled a bit in its qualifying race with a fifth-place result of 5:59.398 to send the crew to the petite final. Looking for redemption, the V8 raced hard throughout 2,000 meters of action and held off Yale and Columbia down the stretch before nearly surpassing Georgetown late. The final leaderboard of the V8 petite final saw the Hoyas in first at 5:55.435 with the Mids in second at 5:57.059. The Bulldogs and Lions came in third and fourth with respective times of 6:00.671 and 6:01.847. In the V8 standings of the regatta, Navy finished ranked eighth overall.
"There is no doubt that the 1st Varsity 8+ are disappointed in their finish," commented Bagnall. "Of all our 8's, we felt like they had picked up the most speed since Penn. A couple of unforced errors in the heat cost us a more protected lane in the petite final, but despite that, they had an excellent first 1500 meters of that race. Figuring out that final gear in championship season will be crucial in the next two weeks. I have unwavering confidence they can find that as we simultaneously celebrate our 1st Class Midshipman in their Commissioning to the US Navy and Marine Corps this week."Â
In the Jope Cup team standings, Navy finished seventh with 16 points, though it was just two points behind fifth-place Yale. No. 1 Harvard took the team title with 39 points.
"The Eastern Sprints league as a whole has become extremely competitive, top-to-bottom, and today was a reminder of that," said Bagnall in closing. "We had an excellent training cycle following our final cup race through academic finals, and some of our crews were able to capitalize on that diligence in their preparation."Â
Navy will continue postseason rowing in two weeks at the IRA National Championship. Hosted in Camden, N.J., the competition runs from May 30 through June 1.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Heat 1; 5th of 5 boats … 5:59.398
Petite Final
Georgetown – 5:55.435
Navy – 5:57.059 (8th overall)
Yale – 6:00.671
Columbia – 6:01.847
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Second Varsity Eight
Heat 1; 6th of 6 boats … 6:05.900
Petite Final
Georgetown – 6:01.180
Dartmouth – 6:03.474
MIT – 6:09.886
Navy – 6:11.222 (10th overall)
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Third Varsity Eight
Heat 1; 2nd of 4 boats … 6:02.548
Grand Final
Harvard – 6:08.208
Princeton – 6:12.258
Navy – 6:14.020 (3rd overall)
Cornell – 6:15.492
Penn – 6:15.648
Georgetown – 6:20.548
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Fourth Varsity Eight
Grand Final
Navy 4V – 6:12.474 (1st overall)
Cornell – 6:17.796
Penn – 6:19.202
Navy 5V – 6:22.598 (4th overall)
Princeton – 6:23.778
Boat Lineups
