University of Virginia Library

Crew Finishes Season

Varsity Crew Climaxes Season This Weekend With Competition In Philadelphia's Dad Vail Regatta

J. Wilson, T. Callahan, J. Woodall, S. Plott, C. Davis, L. Barry, E. Vogel, N. Schacter, H. O'Connor

Today and tomorrow the
University of Virginia Rowing
Association is culminating its
racing season by participating
in the Dad Vail Regatta in
Philadelphia. Although the Dad
Vail does not include the "big
ten" of rowing (Harvard, Penn,
etc.), it is the largest
8-oared-shell crew regatta in
the world, racing about 80
different crews from over 30
different colleges and
universities. That the quality of
the Dad Vail competitors has
increased in recent years is
evidenced by the switch to
starting commands in French,
preparing the oarsmen for
possible international regattas.

Seventh Last Year

The varsity eight last year
received an unfortunate draw for
heats. Although they finished first
in the consolation race (7th overall),
they saw crews they had
consistently beaten during the season
go on to the finals. Because of
the protest of many schools, the
heats will probably be seeded this
year.

Three Heats Probable

Most crews will have to race the
mile-and-a-quarter course three
times in two days. The finals will
probably be closer than ever before
because of the large number of
crews that have drastically improved
in the last year. The
traditionally strong crews are
Georgetown, St. Joseph's, Trinity,
and Marietta. This year Temple, the
Univ. of Massachusetts, Jacksonville,
and Rollins are also fast. And
as ever, there are always a few
"dark horses," potentially fast
crews that no one has heard
anything about.

The crew has been looking
forward to this regatta since September.
Rowing began the first
week of classes and continued up to
five practices a week until the
reservoir froze. Practice didn't let
up at that time, they only changed
to weightlifting and running. The
crew took to the water again in
February and has been training
even harder since then. This long
preparation period puts even more
pressure on the crew to do well in
this regatta.