GEORGE WASHINGTON INVITE
April 12-13, 2024 - Potomac River - Washington D.C.
The Men’s Collegiate races, at the GW Invite, are only open to American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) teams. WSU chose to attend the regatta because it provided the opportunity for a mid-season race with many of the top ACRA crews.
The races are held on a four-lane buoyed course on the Potomac River. The regatta features a series of three separate races (sessions) in one weekend. There was a Friday afternoon racing session and Saturday morning and afternoon sessions.
Unfortunately, the Cougs battled weather all weekend and were only able to get in the Friday afternoon Race. This was after a 90-minute delay, and they still battled wind gusts of up to 30 mph and whitecaps up and down the course. There was intention by the GW officials, and the other teams of the regatta to delay races throughout Saturday in hopes of getting some sort of racing in, but the weather proved too unsafe to continue.
Results
Men’s Varsity Eight (MV8)
First up for WSU (ACRA #11) was the MV8 race against Bucknell University (ACRA #8) , as said, in quite choppy conditions.
Recently, WSU and Bucknell have developed a bit of a competitive rivalry. Bucknell has been able to draw from the depth of its five varsity eights to develop some good top end speed. While WSU has made the most of its two varsity eights to develop almost identical speed.
Last year, at the 2023 ACRA National Championships, they had quite a race. Bucknell had a great start that gave them a lead in the six boat Petite Finals (for places 7-12). Following the start, WSU was in 6th place, open water behind Bucknell. The Cougs kept rowing hard and closed the gap to 2 seats at the end, for an 8th place finish in the National Championships.
At the GW Invite, Bucknell once again had a great start to surge into the lead. WSU then methodically rowed back to even. That indicated that WSU and Bucknell are demonstrating the same relative speed as last year. During the last part of the race Bucknell may have handled the choppy conditions better as they eked out a one length advantage.
This rivalry will undoubtedly continue at the 2024 ACRA Championships this May.
Men’s Varsity 8 Final Times (For Their Heat, Respectively)
Bucknell 5:43.6
WSU 5:47.6
Men’s Novice Eight (MN8)
The WSU MN8 (ACRA #8) raced North Carolina and Delaware, in conditions that had flattened out quite a bit, after the Varsity race.
Novice Coach Bjorn Elliott said that ‘last week, the Cougars had ‘held back’ and had raced a conservative middle 1,000 meters (with a fast finish) at the Covered Bridge Regatta. This week, our goal is to race more aggressively in the middle in order to better maintain even splits down the course.’
At the GW Invite, the WSU MN8 had a good start and a strong middle 1,000m to row away from North Carolina and Delaware. The Cougars dominated the race in beating North Carolina by 21 seconds and Delaware by 26 seconds.
Coach Brevick: ‘the MN8 used their aggressive racing and the improved conditions to log their most complete race so far.’ In doing so, the WSU Novices also closed the speed gap between themselves and the WSU Varsity. Thist indicates that the Novices are still gaining speed.
Men’s Novice 8 Final Times (For Their Heat, Respectively)
WSU 6:03.3
North Carolina 6:24.1
Delaware 6:29.5
Looking Ahead
Although conditions proved challenging, and the outcome ended somewhat unfortunately, the Cougs took care of business when they had the opportunity and are proving strong through the middle part of racing season. The Fawley Cup race with Gonzaga University will be held on Saturday morning, April 20th in which the races will be held near Spokane on Silver Lake. The athletes expect fierce and close competition in this infamous dual, and we hope to see you all there!