Midwest Rowing Championships Celebrate 30th Anniversary
April 24, 2002 | Men's Rowing
First held in 1973, the Madison tradition of the Midwest Rowing Championships celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Held at the end of April on Lake Wingra, it is one of the largest regattas in the Midwest with upwards of 1,000 participants.
This year's version will be held on Saturday, April 27, with the staging area at Wingra Park, and the finish line at Vilas Beach. The first heat of the regatta is scheduled for 7:30 a.m., while the last race of the day is slated for a 4:00 p.m. start.
All three Badger crews will take part in the racing, including the No. 1 Wisconsin women's lightweights, the No. 5 Wisconsin men and the Wisconsin women's openweight team. The Badgers have been nearly perfect at the regatta with the lightweight women winning all five races so far, and the men and openweight women taking 27 of 29 past races.
The No. 5 men's team will compete against teams like Cincinnati, Kansas State and Dayton. The varsity eight is led by senior coxswain John Taylor, junior captain Beau Hoopman and junior Peter Giese, who have all competed at the international level. The Badger men will also compete in races involving their second, third and fourth varsity eights, varsity fours, as well as their novice eight and novice four boats.
The women's openweight crew, with senior captain and 2001 First-Team All-Big Ten rower Bridgid Myers and 2001 Academic All-District rower senior Jenny Pofahl in the varsity eight boat, will race Marquette, Kansas and Creighton among other boats. The openweights will also enter varsity four, second varsity eight, novice eight and novice four races against Minnesota and other squads.
Admission for the regatta is free. More information can be found at www.mwrc.org.
