This past weekend, Lafayette crew excelled at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta in Philadelphia, capping off a busy October for the team.
Crew came fresh from their impressive outing at the Head of the Charles Regatta, which is the largest two-day regatta in the world. There, the group brought home the gold and received an invitation to return to the competition in Cambridge, Mass. next year.
“While the Head of the Charles may be considered the largest and most prestigious two-day crew regatta in the world, the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia is equally as competitive and has a storied history of its own,” junior coxswain Kendall Lamm said.
The 2.5 mile course on the Schuylkill is considered one of the most challenging in the country. According to its website, up to 30,000 spectators cheer the boats on every year, creating an electric atmosphere.
The course’s location seemed to benefit the Leopards.
“Our team rows several times a year on the Schuylkill River, where we are more familiar with the racecourse than the one in Cambridge,” Lamm said. “Our rowers have been training hard to prepare for another big race, and our boats performed well once again.”
The Women’s Championship Four – consisting of seniors Lauren Salbinski and Abby Hammel, sophomores Noni Lorentzen and Ellie Walsh, as well as freshman coxswain Ryan Comisky – finished fifth overall out of over 50 boats.
The Men’s Championship Fours boat also had an impressive outing. Led by Lamm as coxswain, the boat, which included senior Henry Grote, junior Ben Army, and sophomores Nate Schulz and Aaron Sigmond-Warner, finished 12th out of over 40 boats.
“We continue to show race after race that our team can compete successfully against larger schools with NCAA scholarship athletes,” Lamm said. “We’re well coached and excited to race at a high level week after week against some of the top rowing programs in the nation. Even though we are a club sport, I think the college can be very proud of our crew team.”
Nationally-ranked programs such as the Washington College, University of Rochester, Bryn Mawr College and Catholic University crew teams were some of the participants in last weekend’s race.
Another big result for Lafayette came from the Women’s Alumni Four, which finished in first place. That boat was led by five alumni from Lafayette’s class of 2022, serving as yet another testament to the strength of the Lafayette crew program.
Rounding out top finishes for Lafayette included the Men’s Championship Pair, which placed second out of five boats, as well as the Women’s and Men’s Novice Four, which placed 10th and 11th out of 22, respectively.
While the team’s accomplishments have been impressive thus far, the group recognizes that a shift in strategy is required as they prepare for the spring season, which will consist of shorter races.
“The fall regatta’s endurance races are considerably longer than the spring season’s sprints. The upcoming Frostbite Regatta will be our first and only chance to race at the shorter distance this fall,” Lamm said. “We will begin practicing quicker starts and rowing at a faster stroke rate. The men in our Varsity Four are definitely considered to be sprint athletes, so we are very excited for Frostbite and the spring season.”
The Leopards will be back in Philadelphia for the Frostbite Regatta on Nov. 12. to close out their busy fall season of racing.
