This weekend, the Crimson Tide rowing team will make the 800-mile trip to the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, N.J., where it will compete in the Knecht Cup Regatta. This will be Alabama’s first time competing in the Knecht Cup, which Villanova University has hosted on the Cooper River since 1999. The team will be competing in five events: Varsity 4, Second Varsity 4, Frosh/Novice 8, Second Frosh/Novice 8 and Varsity 8.
The field at the regatta includes No. 14 Wisconsin, as well as Conference-USA rivals Kansas and Old Dominion, and previous opponents such as Dayton, Boston College and Holy Cross. Senior Jessica Parker said she is looking forward to the opportunity to face this stiff competition.
“We get a chance to race some conference rivals, which I’m always excited about,” Parker said. “We’ve being figuring things out and fixing the little problems we’ve had, so I’m excited.”
The team is coming off of a Senior Day event last weekend at which it posted victories over West Virginia and Central Florida in the First and Second Varsity 4. Head coach Larry Davis said these wins are important for his team’s confidence.
“In the long run as a program, we want to be the people that other teams gauge themselves by,” Davis said. “We’re not there yet, but we want to go out and set the standard, and every time we win gives us that much more of a confidence boost.”
This will not be entirely unfamiliar territory for the Tide, which had a strong showing at Head of the Charles in Cambridge, Mass., in October. The team is also experienced with ranked competition, having finished second to No. 15 Clemson in six races at a regatta hosted by the Tigers in March. Davis said he enjoys the chance to test his team against new and old opponents.
“This regatta is a really good opportunity for us to test ourselves against a wide range of teams, and it gives us an ability to judge how we’re doing and where we stand as a program,” Davis said. “For us to grow, we have to go against the good competition. We can’t be intimidated by it.”
Parker said the Tide’s key to victory lies in the team’s ability to work together and row as a unit.
“[Rowing] is a very team-oriented sport, and everyone has to be on top of their game all the time,” Parker said. “We just need to be on our A-game and pull together, and I think we’ll do great.”
The Knecht Cup begins Saturday, April 13, and continues into Sunday, April 14.
