There was a lot of pride at stake in today's cross-town confrontation between George Washington University and their rivals from Georgetown. And just a little history too.
Today's men-only varsity event was a best-of-seven match races. The crews raced into a strong headwind on the Potomac River from Key Bridge to Washington Harbour, a distance of a little over a half mile. George Washington's JV Eight and Freshman Eight raced Georgetown in a best of five series.
Joining the varsity events this year for the first time were alumni races. Alumni of each school raced each other in three age classes:
"Young Alumni": Grad's - 35 years
"Masters Alumni": 35 - 50 years
"Veteran Alumni": 50 years and over
A highlight of The Duel this year was an Exhibition Row by George Washington's "Original Crew of 1956". The crew performed the row-past rowing in the shell "Men's Eight of 1956" named in their honor.
FRESHMAN EIGHTS: (BEST OF 5) Race One: G'town A 3:14.12 GW 3:15.32 G'town B 3:32.0 Race Two: G'town A 3:21.4 GW 3:30.4 G'town B 3:33.9 Race Three: G'town A 3:26.9 GW 3:31.6 G'town B 3:42.5 VETERAN ALUMNI EIGHTS (Sudden Death) G'town 3:49 GW "Buff" 3:51 GW "Blue" 3:52 MASTERS ALUMNI EIGHTS (Sudden Death) GW 3:52.9 G'town 3:58.55 "YOUNG ALUMNI" (Sudden Death) RACE OF THE DAY GW "Buff" 3:21.0 G'town A 3:21.03 G'town B 3:21.05 G'town C 3:33.8 GW "Blue" 3:42.4 JUNIOR VARSITY EIGHTS (Best of 5) Race One G'town 3:23.40 GW 3:26.3 Race Two G'town 3:28.6 GW 3:34.8 Race Three G'town 3:27.8 GW 3:34.5 "THE DUEL": VARSITY EIGHTS (Best of 7) Race One G'town 3:09.0 GW 3:15.5 Race Two G'town 3:17.6 GW 3:24.7 Race Three G'town 3:16.7 GW 3:25.6 Race Four G'town 3:13.1 GW 3:18.3