ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The 2026 slate turns to the postseason for the No. 19 Navy heavyweight and No. 9 lightweight rowing programs this Sunday with action at the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Sprints Championship in Worcester, Massachusetts. Racing on a 2,000-meter stretch of Lake Quinsigamond, the event annually hosts some of the top rowing squads from across the country in a day-long competition. The heat racing begins at 8 a.m. before the championship finals are showcased starting at 1:00 p.m. 10 different crews will be representing Hubbard Hall at the Sprints with five boats entered from both the heavyweight and lightweight ranks.

For fans unable to attend the races a live webstream on OVERNGHT and results will be provided. OVERNGHT is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest.

In heavyweight action, Navy's first varsity eight crew is seeded 13th in the field, while its second varsity is ranked 13th heading into Sunday's racing. Going through the rest of their entries, the Mids' 3V8 is seeded 12th with their 4V8 ranked 10th and 5V8 projected sixth.

On the lightweight side of the ledger, Navy's first varsity eight is seeded ninth in the field with its second varsity earning the fourth seed. The final ranked boat, the Mids' 3V8 is seeded fifth. There are no publicly announced seedings for the 4V and 5V competitions.

Scouting the Opposition
The heavyweight field at the 2026 Eastern Sprints is 15 teams deep and consists of Boston U., Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Holy Cross, Navy, Northeastern, Penn, Princeton, Syracuse, Wisconsin and Yale.

In the lightweight competition, 10 programs will be racing in Worcester, with the following field: Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Navy, Penn, Princeton and Yale.

Most Recent Eastern Sprints Competition: May 18, 2025 in Worcester, Mass.
Entering five boats into the conference-wide competition, the Mids' fourth varsity eight had the most successful day of the fleet with a third-place result in the petite final. Taking on a field of 15 teams for 2,000 meters of racing on Lake Quinsigamond in central Massachusetts, Navy had boats competing in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth varsity classifications. The Mids' top four crews all raced twice on Sunday with an initial qualifying heat in morning and final action in the afternoon.

Navy's first varsity concluded the run of boats making two passes down the course on Lake Quinsigamond. The Mids opened the regatta with a morning time of 5:53.257 to place fifth in heat number two. Competing in the third final of the classification, Navy was in a three-boat race alongside Columbia and Holy Cross. After coming up short against the Lions in their regular season meeting by 3.5 seconds, the Mids sought to even the score on Sunday. Navy's revenge race was excruciatingly close as the V8 fell by just 0.156 seconds to Columbia, 5:52.603 to 5:52.759. Holy Cross was over five seconds back with a 5:57.781 effort. Overall, the Mids ranked 14th in the field with this result.

At the conclusion of racing, the Rowe Cup was awarded to Harvard for finishing first in the team-point standings with 41 points. Navy placed 15th in the standings

Last Five Eastern Sprints (HWT)
2025 - V8 (14th) // Team (15th)
2024 - V8 (11th) // Team (11th)
2023 - V8 (14th) // Team (t-11th)
2022 - V8 (11th) // Team (8th)
2021 - Cancelled: COVID-19 Pandemic

The Navy lightweight crew program had five entries in the 2025 Eastern Sprints Championship. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Last Five Eastern Sprints (LWT)
2025 - V8 (8th) // Team (7th)
2024 - V8 (7th) // Team (t-6th)
2023 - V8 (3rd) // Team (6th)
2022 - V8 (2nd) // Team (t-1st)
2021 - Cancelled: COVID-19 Pandemic

Race Schedule
8:10 AM - Fourth Varsity HW Eight-Heat 2 (Navy, Boston U., Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Penn)
8:20 AM - First Varsity HW Eight-Heat 1 (Navy, Northeastern, Princeton, Wisconsin, Yale)
8:50 AM - First Varsity LW Eight-Heat 1 (Navy, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Yale)
9:10 AM - Second Varsity LW Eight-Heat 1 (Navy, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT)
9:40 AM - Second Varsity HW Eight-Heat 1 (Navy, Columbia, Harvard, Northeastern, Penn)
10:10 AM - Third Varsity HW Eight-Heat 1 (Navy, Harvard, Holy Cross, Northeastern, Syracuse)
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1:00 PM – Grand Final: Fifth Varsity HW Eight (Navy, Boston Univ., Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton)
1:10/1:20 PM - Petite/Grand Finals: Fourth Varsity HW Eight
2:00 PM - Grand Final: Fourth Varsity LW Eight (Navy 4V, Navy 5V, Penn, Princeton)
2:20 PM - Grand Final: Third Varsity LW Eight (Navy, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale)
2:32/2:42/2:52 PM - Third/Petite/Grand Finals: Third Varsity HW Eight
3:04/3:14 PM - Petite/Grand Finals: Second Varsity LW Eight
3:26/3:36/3:46 PM - Third/Petite/Grand Finals: Second Varsity HW Eight
4:06/4:16 PM - Petite/Grand Finals: First Varsity LW Eight
4:28/4:38/4:48 PM - Third/Petite/Grand Finals: First Varsity HW Eight