Heavyweight, lightweight crew to face Ivy rivals in Philadelphia

Both of the men’s crew teams will travel to Philadelphia this weekend to compete against teams from Yale and Penn. The heavyweight crew will be looking to take its third straight Blackwell Cup while the lightweights will look to recover from a loss to Navy last week and avenge their loss to Yale in last year’s Dodge Cup.

The last time the heavyweights faced Penn, one week ago in the Childs Cup, the Lions came in ahead of the Quakers comfortably, with the varsity boat beating them with a margin of about six seconds. The Bulldogs, however, may prove to be more of a challenge for Columbia. In their last matchup at the Head of the Charles Regatta in the fall, Yale’s heavyweights finished the 5k in 15:10.27, while Columbia’s unofficial time was 15:33.047, though it suffered a one-minute penalty for hitting a bridge.

Last year at the Blackwell Cup, the heavyweight varsity eight defeated Yale with a 2k time of 5:54.0, narrowly ahead of the Bulldogs, who finished at 5:56.8. The year before that, the first time Columbia managed to win the Cup since 1941, the Lions scraped by with a lead of a mere 1.2 seconds.

The lightweights beat Penn in their last race against the Quakers—at the Head of the Charles last fall. The Light Blue crossed the finish line with a time of 16:05.65, behind Yale’s 15:55.33 but well in front of the Red and Blue, who finished with a time of 16:22.99. The lightweight crew will also see a tough competitor in the Bulldogs.

In last year’s Dodge Cup, the lightweight crew came in third of three, finishing over seven seconds behind winner Yale, and almost three behind second-place Penn.

The heavyweight crew will begin the racing at 9:10 a.m. on the Schuylkill course while the lightweights are set to start at 9:40 a.m. in Philadelphia, Pa.