WORCESTER, Mass. – The Navy lightweight rowing team kicked off its run of postseason racing on Sunday with an action-packed day of competition at the 2026 Eastern Sprints Championship. Entering five boats into the conference year-end regatta hosted on Lake Quinsigamond in central Massachusetts, the Mids collected four top-five finishes, including a victory by its fourth varsity eight crew.
Competing in a four-team grand final for the fourth varsity eight division, Navy found itself in a three-way battle over the 2,000 meters of action on Sunday. In contact with Penn and Princeton throughout the race, the Mids withstood all challenges and walked away with the gold courtesy of a time of 6:22.997, 1.668 seconds ahead of the Quakers and 2.028 seconds better than the Tigers. Racing as a guest, Navy's 5V placed fourth with a 6:40.939 effort.
In the ensuing race, the grand final of the third varsity eight classification, the six-team field was fairly spaced out as each boat crossed the finish line a minimum of three-plus seconds apart. Princeton and Penn went one-two with respective times of 6:09.293 and 6:13.639 before Harvard held off Navy to claim third place at 6:18.767. The Mids just missed medaling by 3.286 seconds with a final time of 6:22.053. Georgetown (6:26.969) and Yale (6:31.265) rounded out the field.
Navy's fourth team to compete in a grand final was its second varsity eight crew. After posting the sixth-fastest time in the morning qualifying session, the Mids came out in the afternoon and surpassed that position with a fifth-place result of 6:08.857. The trio of Penn, Princeton and Harvard controlled the action from the front and battled to the finish line within 0.512 seconds of each other with the Quakers holding on for the title at 5:55.067. A two-team duel between Georgetown and Navy for fourth place was featured a bit further back in the field as the Hoyas ended up grabbing the position over the Mids by 3.140 seconds with a 6:05.717 mark. Dartmouth placed sixth at 6:10.293.
Navy's first varsity eight struggled to find its top-level speed on Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond as the Mids finished fifth in their morning heat and later placed fourth in the petite final to place tenth overall at the competition. Racing against Yale, Georgetown and Columbia in the petite final, Navy was unable to keep pace with the Bulldogs and Hoyas, who sprinted away for a close one-two finish of 5:54.278 and 5:55.636. The Mids and Lions were in contact for most of the 2,000 meters though the Lions had enough left down the stretch to secure a 3.726-second margin for third place over the Mids, 5:59.424 to 6:03.150.
In the Jope Cup team standings, Navy finished fifth with 19 points, just two points shy of fourth-place Georgetown. Princeton took the team title with 35 points.
"It was a mixed bag of results and execution for our team on Sunday," remarked head coach
Shawn Bagnall. "We are fired-up for the results in the second through fifth varsity. Through their efforts, we were able to place fifth in the overall team trophy points (Jope Cup). That said, I know we are disappointed with the finish in the first varsity, where we were unable to handle some breaks in the rhythm and gusty conditions in the final.Â
"There is no doubt that the walk-on Plebes in this group learned a ton of lessons this season and over the course of the racing at the Sprints. I am proud of the entire team and the commitment to improvement each week that they operated with. Hats off to Coach Herrick for guiding the 4V to a gold medal, as well as putting a 3V out that was in the medal hunt for a good portion of the Grand Final.Â
"I think these results just speak to the overall speed of the Eastern Sprints Lightweight League. There are no easy outs, and you cannot have less than your best and expect to win. Should we be fortunate enough to be granted an at-large team bid to the IRA National Championship, we will look to ensure our final strokes of the 2026 season are the best strokes that we take as a team."
Navy hopes to continue postseason action in 12 days when the three-day IRA National Championship commences in Lake Natoma, California on Friday, May 29. Berths for the national regatta will be announced early this week.
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Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Heat 1; 5th of 5 boats … 6:03.313
Petite Final
Yale – 5:54.278
Georgetown – 5:55.636
Columbia – 5:59.424
Navy – 6:03.150 *10th overall
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Second Varsity Eight
Heat 1; 2nd of 5 boats … 5:57.993
Grand Final
Penn – 5:55.067
Princeton – 5:55.449
Harvard – 5:55.579
Georgetown – 6:05.717
Navy – 6:08.857 **5th overall
Dartmouth – 6:10.293
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Third Varsity Eight
Grand Final
Princeton – 6:09.293
Penn – 6:13.639
Harvard – 6:18.767
Navy – 6:22.053 *4th overall
Georgetown – 6:26.969
Yale – 6:31.265
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Fourth Varsity Eight
Grand Final
Navy 4V – 6:22.997 *1st Overall
Penn – 6:24.665
Princeton – 6:25.025
Navy 5V – 6:40.939 *4th Overall
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Boat Lineups
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