SRAA National Championship Regatta 2015

Held every May since 1935, the SRAA (Scholastic Rowing Association of America) Championship Regatta is often referred to as “the Nationals” because it is informally recognized by the rowing community as a national high school championship event. Indeed, the SRAA includes high school leagues from as far south as Florida, as far north as New York and Michigan, and west to Illinois. Crews qualify for the Nationals based on their performance at various SRAA-qualifying regional regattas. For the WMIRA league, boats finishing first and second at the league championships automatically qualify. Otherwise, crews can petition for an open slot upon presentation of “proof of speed” from other regattas–such as, in WJ’s case, the Maryland High School Rowing Championships (“States”) earlier this spring in Chestertown.

This year, four WJ Crew boats qualified for the Nationals with their wins on the Anacostia at WMIRA and based on performance throughout the season: the girls’ Senior four, the boys’ and girls’ Junior 4+ and the boys’ Lightweight 4+.

All four boats successfully moved past the heats stage on the first day of Nationals on the Camden River in New Jersey, and the two boys’ 4+ advanced beyond the semi-finals to the Grand Finals on the second day–as was expected after their stellar performances the prior week at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta. As it turned out though, it was not WJ’s time for collecting medals. Both boats finished a respectable fifth place, battling a very competitive field for the second weekend in a row. In any case, both these 4+ boats share the distinction of having excelled further at the SRAA National Championships than any WJ crew to date!

See the Regatta Central page for all results.