More Than 140 Collegiate Rowers Compete On The Navesink
Story and Photos by Art Petrosemolo
The fog on the Navesink River was pea soup thick early Saturday, September 19, as crews from four colleges waited patiently at Rumson’s Victory Park for the Rumson Boat Race to begin.
Men’s and women’s crews from Villanova, Drexel, and Army and the men from Rutgers talked quietly with parents and friends and in small groups as race officials tried to catch a glimpse of the Oceanic Bridge – lost in the fog – just yards away from the Rumson-Fair Haven (RFH) rowing dock.
Race director Dan Edwards paced the Navesink shore and consulted the weather app on his phone as the 7:30 am launch time passed. But, as predicted, shortly after 8 a.m., the fog began to lift as a light westerly breeze and a warming sun did its work.
“Ready to launch,” shouted Edwards and the Villanova women’s varsity eight was first on the dock, in the water and rowing smoothly through the lifting mist to Lewis Point, the starting line for the regatta.
For the next couple of hours, the river – home to sailors and power boaters most of the year – became a collegiate rowing venue as it was back in 1939 when the Navesink was the site of the Dad Vail Regatta, today the largest intercollegiate rowing event in the United States. The spring event rowed on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia currently attracts teams from more than 100 colleges and universities.
“If you are a young rower in Philadelphia,” says Edwards, “you are exposed to some of the finest amateur rowing in the world. The Rumson Regatta,” he continued, “exposes rowers from the Two Rivers area to that level of competition and helps keep them excited about the sport.”
Rumson’s Kate Edwards, daughter of the race director and a graduate of the program, rows for the Drexel team that was started and coached by her father, a Drexel alum, in the 1980s. Nine members of the RFH 2014 graduating class including Peter Clark at Rutgers are attending a university that competes in the Rumson Boat Race. They join five other earlier RFH graduates.
When the day was over and the teams were loading their eight-oared shells back on special truck racks, it was the crews from Drexel – the three-time defending Dad Vail Regatta overall champions – who left with the Governor’s Cup and first place medals in all four events: men’s and women’s varsity and second varsity competitions. Drexel varsity rowers have won the Rumson event five of its six years.
In the varsity men’s eight, Rutgers jumped out in the lead but Drexel settled and retook the first position at the 200-meter mark and rowed to victory over the 2500-meter (mile and a half) course. Drexel was followed across the finish line by Rutgers, Army and Villanova.
“The day’s most exciting event,” says Edwards, ” was the men’s second varsity when Army battled favored Drexel bow to bow for nearly 2000 meters.” In the end, the Dragons’ strength and experience won the day and the team pulled away for victory. Army, Villanova and Rutgers followed Drexel across the finish line.
In the women’s varsity, it was Drexel, Army and Villanova. In second women’s varsity, Villanova and Army finished second and third.
After a cool, misty early morning, the rowers were greeted with perfect Navesink conditions with smooth water and a light breeze. The teams battled an incoming tide as they rowed east toward the Oceanic Bridge with the finish line off of Rumson’s Victory Park.
“Spring rowing races are primarily sprints at 2000 meters,” Edwards says, “but in the fall crews row a little longer.” Although fall season races are usually competed in “Processional” style with teams rowing against the clock, the Rumson Boat Race has crews competing side by side in Sprint fashion over the open-water course.
“The annual Rumson event is modeled after the prestigious Royal Henley Regatta where teams and coaches are hosted by local families,” Edwards says. With the support of the Rumson-Fair Haven community, the rowers and coaches from the competing colleges also are housed with local families. The race, first rowed in 2009, has the support of the Rumson community under the leadership of Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl.
The weekend event kicked off with a reception for the teams and coaches Friday evening where retiring Villanova Coach Jack Sinclair, coach of the Wildcats for 26 years, was honored. Drexel Athletic Director Eric Zillmer, Psy.d was the reception’s keynote speaker. Sinclair, a former member of the US National Team and a Pan Am games silver medalist, served as the race starter and Maureen Wager was the referee.
The Rumson Boat Race was founded to support the rowing culture in the Rumson-Fair Haven communities and the RFH Rowing program that provides on-the-water opportunities for boys and girls in grades nine through twelve. RFH Rowing, first introduced in 2006, conducts learn to row camps for local students in sixth through eighth grades as well as racing and fitness programs for high school students.
For more information about RFH Rowing, visit their website: www.rumsonrec.org/rfh_rowing.html
