UDMC Brings Home 3 Medals at Knecht Cup

The entire University of Delaware Men’s Crew Team participated in the Knecht Cup this
past weekend. The regatta took course over Saturday and Sunday with sunny tail/cross wind
conditions throughout. Delaware entered boats in the Novice 8, Second Novice 8, Club 8,
Lightweight 8, JV 8 and Varsity 8. By then end of the regatta the team would walk away with 2
gold and one bronze medal.

On the heavyweight side the first boat to row was the Varsity 8 entered as Delaware A in
the Varsity event. After a rough start, the heavyweight Varsity 8 came in 5th place and was
unable to advance to semi-finals. They placed behind Drexel, Mercyhurst, Marist and St Joe’s.
Marist and Drexel would go on to make the grand final and Drexel would ultimately win the
event. The heavyweight Novice 8 won their heat on Saturday afternoon. This put them in good
qualifying position for the evening semi-final. In this semi, Delaware was able to qualify for the
grand final finishing 3rd behind Drexel and Trinity who would go on to take 1st and 3rd in the
final respectively. The Novice 8 rowed hard in their final on Sunday but came home in 6th.
Overall they placed 6th out of the 16 boats entered in the event. The last heavyweight boat to race
was the Second Novice 8 which partook in a 3 boat final for the event. Delaware was primed to
win the event until a crab in the last 500m of the race allowed Rutgers to push ahead and win the
race. Ultimately Delaware did not place in the race due to infractions.

The Lightweights had boats entered throughout the regatta in both lightweight and
heavyweight events. The first lightweight boat to see action was the Lightweight Varsity 4. The
4 had just come together in a new lineup a couple days before the race, and were unable to
qualify for semi-finals just 7 seconds off the pace needed to advance in the event. The next boat
down the course for the lightweights was the varsity 8 entered as Delaware B in the Varsity 8
event. In an altered lineup on Saturday, the lightweight 8 rowed a controlled heat taking home 3 rd
and advancing on to semis. Late that afternoon, the lightweight once again took to the course to
row their semi and once again after a calm and controlled effort were able to advance to the
grand final on Sunday. In the final on Sunday the boat spent most of the race in second place.
However in the last 500m Hobart was able to walk through Delaware. Delaware ultimately
finished in 3rd place behind the heavyweight 8s of Drexel and Hobart respectively. The next boat
to race was the lightweight 2V entered in the JV event. The 2V was also in an altered lineup for
Saturday and were not able to advance out of the heats finishing 3 second off the pace needed to
qualify. The lightweight 2F was entered in the Club 8 event and cruised to an easy win in their
heats on Saturday night. They would return on Sunday to take home a commanding win and the
first gold medal for the team. The last lightweight boat to race was the 1F which was entered in
the lightweight 8 event. In a straight final the 1F was able to take home a strong victory finishing
5 seconds ahead of the field and taking home the gold.