Seeing as this was Drexel’s first race on its “home turf,” Director of Rowing and Men’s and Women’s head coach Paul Savell had only positive things to say about his team’s performance.
“It was good to see most of our boats finish near the top at the Navy Day Regatta,” Savell said.
“We have been stressing on picking up momentum in the second half of the race and negative splitting. This is an area we hope to improve over the next few races.”
Of the boats that placed, the women had one third-place finish and two second-place results.
The novice eight had a very promising race for the women, earning one of their second-place accolades with a time of 14:44.37, just behind the University of Pennsylvania, who snagged first with a time of 14:21.08. Coxing their boat was freshman Catherine Hamilton, who helped her boat soar past seven other competitors.
The results for the women’s second varsity eight were reminiscent of the novice race. The women who rowed in the John A. Daskalakis boat also took second place, again just behind UPenn with a time of 14:23.64.
The women’s varsity eight wrapped up the women’s races with a third-place finish of 14:34:48. The Marlene Buckley boat missed second place by five seconds to UPenn and was denied first by Navy, who finished with a time of 14:23:81.
On the men’s side, the Dragons accumulated two fifth-place finishes along with one second-place finish.
The novice eight had a successful showing and earned the highest finish of the day for Drexel men’s crew. They earned second place with a time of 12:32:25, falling to Navy by 14 seconds.
The men’s second varsity boat, which rowed in the Annette Pennoni boat, followed with a fifth-place finish behind three Navy boats and one UPenn boat.
The Vince Vidas boat, otherwise known as the men’s varsity eight, finished the day by placing fifth in their race. Although the boat fell to two Navy boats, one Penn boat and one Temple boat, overall they beat out 17 other competitors.
With the Head of the Charles Regatta coming up Oct. 22 in Boston, Mass., the Dragons are hoping to have a successful showing.
On the men’s side, Savell hopes his team will match or surpass their seventh-place finish from last year. For the women, he knows the competition level is high. With his young team he knows that they need to bring all they’ve got to the race.
“The women will see some of the best competition in the country along with some international crews participating in the race,” Savell commented. “With a young boat, it will be important for everyone to settle and row with poise and confidence. The course is packed with spectators for three-and-a-half miles, and with Boston’s windy conditions, things can get hectic.”
Even though the Head of the Charles is top priority right now, the team is keeping the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta in the back of its mind.
“The two races are only a week apart, so performing well at the Head of the Charles should help build confidence and momentum for the Head of the Schuylkill,” Savell said.
Thus far in the fall season both the men and women have had very solid showings. With the competition heating up in the final races, the Dragons will have the opportunity to show what they are really capable of accomplishing.