Men's Rowing Has Good Start to Season

Sunday, April 18

Fairfax,Va.

Syracuse University

United States Naval Academy

4/18/2021 7:15:00 PM | Men's Rowing

The Syracuse men's rowing team raced for the first time since November 2019 on Sunday morning. The Orange lined up with the Navy in a morning session and George Washington in the afternoon on the Occoquan Reservoir in Fairfax, Va. Syracuse's varsity eight (V8) and second varsity eight (2V8) earned victories in both races.

"I thought it was a good first day of racing for us," Syracuse head coach Dave Reischman said. "I thought our two eights put together back-to-back good races and I thought it was a good learning experience for our four."

Conditions were variable headwinds ranging 6-8 mph that shifted quickly along with the Occoquan head current. Syracuse's V8 began the morning races with a win crossing the finish of the 2,000-meter course in 5:58.1 to beat Navy (6:05.5) in 6 mph winds. The 2V8 (6:13.7) beat Navy (6:24.4) in the second race of the morning facing 8 pmh winds. In the varsity four (V4+) Navy's A crew won followed by the Midshipmen's B crew. Syracuse's V4+ finished in third (7:24.4).

"We learned a lot of positive things on the racecourse," added Reischman. "And the guys were able to identify some areas that they would like to work on over the next two weeks. Our next weekend of racing will be a real test."

In the afternoon races there were more significant variable headwinds ranging from 2-8 mph that shifted quickly along the head current. In the varsity eight the Orange faced 6-8 mph winds to cross the line in 6:03.1 to bet George Washington (6:12.3). There was 2-4 mph winds for Syracuse's victory over GW in the 2V8. The Orange closed the 2000m course in 6:06.7 while the Colonials finished in 6:09.4.

George Washington's A crew in the V4+ took first in the final race of the day while Syracuse (7:21.9) finished in the middle just ahead of GW's B crew.

Syracuse has two weeks to prepare for its next race weekend when the Orange face Northeastern and Boston University on May 1 and Wisconsin on Sunday, May 2. All three races will take place on the Charles River in Boston, Mass.