The 84th Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta had a new venue--the Cooper River--and a slightly different vibe, or at least that seemed to be the consensus and the buzz in the boatyard. New digs or no, the 2023 Dad Vail still served up a full two days of the racing opportunities for college programs big and small that has long been its hallmark.
The regatta left the Schuylkill River this year, a decision made months ago when it looked like its historic home course might be less rowable due to planned dredging. The straight course and more spacious venue seemed to suit the Dad Vail Committee:
"It means a great deal to be able to be so welcomed and to be in such a picturesque, straight, 2,000-meter race course," Jim Hanna, the committee president told Philadelphia's 6 Action News in a video interview on Saturday. "We want to have a fair race course, the same way a basketball coach would say 'I don't want to send my kids on a court that has warped boards.'"
Temple won the Overall Points Trophy, with a flurry of finals and wins by their Men's And Women's 3V and the Men's JV 4, which claimed the Ken Shaw Trophy, presented by Ken Shaw himself. Drexel took the Men's Point Title with wins in the marquee eights, and the Women's Points Trophy came down to a tie for both first, shared by Bowdoin and MIT, and second, shared by BU and Georgetown.
All of those schools won multiple medals on the day, of course, but some other "frequent flyers" at the medal stand included included Lafayette in the fours, Jefferson and Embry-Riddle in the Women's D2 racing, Stockton's D3 Women, and MIT's Lightweight Men, who won the Light Eight and collected a bronze in the Heavyweight 2V final.
Drexel Doubles Down on Men's V8 Title
Drexel, whose strong season has them polling ahead of several EARC schools, looked controlled all weekend in the Varsity Men's Eight on their way to winning for a second year in a row. That included a easy, in-charge march at the front of their semi, but Head Coach Paul Savell knew his crew would still need to bring everything to bear in the final:
"They did the semi just the way we were hoping," said Savell, "but they still weren't thinking this was going to be anything but a tough fight in the Final.
"The guys were confident but they expected a full 2000 meter race. They expected that ahead of time, and knew that it was going to be a great battle. We didn't know where it was going to come from, if it was going to come from Colgate, Temple, LaSalle, or anybody else in the final, because it definitely was up for grabs."
In the end, it was very much LaSalle who tried to grab the win, and they were perhaps the most ecstatic silver medalists on the day, taking a big step for their young team by getting ahead of both the bronze medalists, Colgate, and Temple. After not even making an appearance in the final in recent years, LaSalle gave Drexel very nearly all they could handle, but Savell's crew had the crucial extra gear to take the win.
The Dragons also took gold in the 2V and Frosh eight, over Temple, to seal up the Men's Points trophy, winning the day on the men's side in this regatta that means so much to their program.
"I felt like this was the best Vails yet," said Savell. "The way the Organizing Committee put it on was unbelievable. They just did everything right this year--and then how our guys rose to the occasion, I loved it."
BU Light Women Win Hwt 8 and Double
The BU Lightweight Women used the Dad Vails experience again this year as part of their run up to the IRA National Championship, racing in the open weight events and coming away with gold in the Varsity Eight and Varsity Double, and a fourth place spot in the Heavyweight Four Grand Final.
We asked Head Coach Malcolm Doldron why the Vails fits so well with his IRA preparations each year:
"First of all, the Dad Vail was my collegiate championship, as a Marietta grad, and I've always found that to be super special regatta," said Doldron. "Why bring the team to it? Because it's a fantastic opportunity to race with the lights turned way up: race six lanes wide; you've got your heat, your semis, your finals; you've got noise of the crowd and a live band. You've got a lot of distractions and things that can be unexpected, and you have to learn how to manage them. That's part of the reason why we want to come here. The timing's right, also, and we had some really good competition here, in Georgetown."
It was an all-lightweight dual for the gold and silver at the front of the Varsity Eight final, and a perfect chance to gain more experience against a fellow IRA contender for Doldron and his crew: "Georgetown's a crew that was the IRA runner-up in the varsity lightweight eight last year. We don't have a single athlete that raced in the IRA last year in our varsity eight, not a single person."
"We had to sprint through Georgetown at Women's Sprints. Here, I think we fixed the start. This was a more complete race. We are still pretty high volume right now, so I think we have another gear or two."
"We're just going to just focus on the fundamentals and try to get technically more efficient, then as our volume drops, let the training take over and kick in, then see what we've got at the IRA."
Part of that high volume of training for BU this past week was a lot of selection, according to the two Terrier freshmen who wound up in the winning Double today: Kylie Lough and Caroline Burchette.
"We went through a rigorous selection week this week to decide who was in the Double, so this is actually our first time racing together ever," said Lough. "It was super cool and really different than what we're used to from high school. When we actually came into the race, it was a "we're winging it" type situation, but we trusted our training and trusted the week that we had and the rigor that we went through, and it worked out in the end."
"We still have three more weeks to prepare for IRA's," added Burchette. "Working on combos with a double is really important, and just figuring it out, so this is a great starting point. To get to continue to gain speed throughout the next few weeks, is really exciting."
Firsts in the Fours
We saw two different types of firsts by the crews that won the Varsity Fours: for the Fairfield Men, the first varsity Dad Vail gold in school history, while for the FIT Women, a first Dad Vail win since losing their varsity status last year, and a sign that their team continues to fight, and go fast.
For the FIT women, the win was validation of their efforts to keep their team going: while the FIT men successfully sued for reinstatement, the women's team remains "cut" and competed as a club throughout this year.
"It means the world," said Brynn Romberger said about the victory. "This past summer, we got cut from our varsity status and we have a small group, but we're putting in all the work every day, day in and day out."
Romberger noted that getting a gold medal her says a lot about their determination to get their varsity status back, saying, "We train really hard and I'm just so proud of all these girls with all the work they put in. They're my best friends. I wake up for them every morning and I love them."
What has kept the FIT rowing, is the fierce support of the alumni group, whose efforts we have followed here.
"It definitely helps, all the support of the alumni," said Syd Whisler. "They helped us with Head of the Charles, with this trip, providing a bunch of food and opportunities for us, and we really appreciate it. The support has been amazing."
For Fairfield's Men, collecting the first varsity men's gold medal ever for their team eclipsed their previous high water mark: a Novice Four gold medal in 2021. Bow man Michael Hamilton was in both crews, making him, we figure, the first Stag ever to own a pair of Dad Vail gold medals.
Together with a silver by the Light Four, it was the most successful Dad Vail yet for Fairfield, and wrapped a big weekend for the whole team: their women's V8 finished ahead of longtime rival Marist at the MACC Championship for the first time on Friday.
"It means more than I can put into words," said team captain and stroke seat Brady Stergion. "Behind this medal and this trophy is so much adversity, frustration, hard work, and recovering from injuries. So many really tough moments and conversations that we've had to get this team moving in the right direction, but I'm so excited, so pumped for this team.
"It means so much for me as Captain, as a senior, who has been through the trenches with this team. I've seen some really tough moments, tough races and I wanted this so bad. I wanted this trophy more than anything in the world, and I finally got it got in my hands."
Lacy Takes the Single, Again
Two-time USA U23 lightweight sculler Ruthie Lacy from Oklahoma City University was back at the Vails, and back on the podium after winning the Women's Single for the second year running, and she liked the new Vails venue:
"It was nice not to have the turn, that's for sure. That added a whole new different mental game at the start because here you know exactly where you are now without having to guess."
"My start wasn't as quick as I would have liked it to be, but definitely coming into this year, I was hoping to PR on the water, trying to break the 8:10 barrier. I did that, and then seeing how close I was to eight minutes...so, next year, it is going to be breaking eight minutes."
Lacy does have one more year left, both as a college athlete and for U23s, and is already looking ahead to a training camp in New Hampshire with her new partner as she shoots for the U23 Lightweight Double trials next month.
2x2k = Gold and Silver for Brock's Doctor
Dad Vail does allow some doubling up, and so Brock University's Ian Doctor made the most of his trip down from St Catherines, taking silver in the single before turning around and going right back out to win the Double with his fresh-legged partner, Josh Ruby.
"It was tough," Doctor admitted, while wearing his two medals. "The races were within an hour apart, launching was an hour part, so the refuelling part was really important. I was fortunate enough that my doubles partner was coming in with fresh legs. I was really happy to row the double with him and we had an awesome race.
"Mentally, the single was harder, just because there was a push that didn't come soon enough and it was fantastic race. In the double, we pushed really early, because we saw a window and we took it. So physically, that one was harder."
Another sculler who definitely doubled up was Dominican University's Tara Long: she took third in the Women's Single and then came back to collect a second medal with her teammates from the Women's Quad Final. Her Quad would have won the Good Sports Award, if there was one: after realizing they had been given the wrong medals--the golds--Long and her quad mates returned and collected their silvers instead, giving event winners Gordon College the chance to to savor their victory.
Notes From The Course
The Borrow-A-Boat Plan: lose your skeg on the way to the start? No problem, just stop in at the Camden County Boathouse and pick up a new boat--that what the Jacksonville 2V did on the way to their semi on Friday. You can see them here in their borrowed South Jersey shell.
Dad Jokes FTW: the live-stream commentary by Joe Leonard and Aquil Abdullah came complete with more than a few dad jokes, courtesy of Abdullah; you can watch it back here to see if there are any keepers.
Kelly Drive Was Still Closed? At least one eagle-eared fan heard an announcement on local radio that Kelly Drive was "closed for a regatta" on Saturday. We didn't go check, of course, but after 83 years of that happening on the second weekend of May for Vails, maybe they just assumed?
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row2k's Dad Vail coverage is brought to you in part by:
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