The 55th edition of the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta gets underway this weekend, October 25th and 26th, as almost 300 clubs descend upon the City of Brotherly Love. The 55-boat field in the Women’s Club Eight category is populated by a myriad of programmes on multiple levels, from full-time club teams to the first varsity boats from NCAA Division III universities to the third and fourth varsities from championship Division I calibre schools. With the prior cancellation of the Navy Day Regatta earlier in the month, “America’s Favourite Regatta” offers itself as the debut for many crews’ 2025-26 campaigns.
University of Pennsylvania
Following the 2025 season, which saw the Quakers finish ranked 17th in the nation, the hometown University of Pennsylvania begins their racing season under second-year head coach Bill Manning. While the team also has four entries in the blue-ribbon Championship Eight, they have entered an additional three boats in the Club category. Last fall, Penn won gold and silver in this event, and are the favourite to repeat. At the 2025 Ivy League Championships, Penn finished sixth in the Third Varsity Eight, Varsity Four, and Second Varsity Four and look to utilise that depth to cement themselves as the top team this weekend. In another boon for the Red and Blue, alumna Josie Konopka returned as an assistant coach this past July. Josie competed for Team USA at the 2021 Under-23 World Championships and stroked the Penn Varsity Eight to the finals of the Island Challenge Cup, and so her athletic and coaching experience will serve the programme from top to bottom in their pursuit of championship speed.
University of Delaware
The Fightin’ Blue Hens of the University of Delaware come charging up I-676 with two entries in the Club Eight to complement their First Varsity in the Championship Eight. Third-year coach Asiya Mahmud, whose crews have won Under-19 World Championships before her posting in Newark, leads a deep squad coming off a tremendous performance at the Colonial Athletic Association Conference Championships; the First and Third Varsity Eights earned silver while the Varsity Four took bronze. The Hens are accumulating enough momentum to take flight, with the Head of the Schuylkill a prime time to demonstrate the totality of the squad’s commitment towards their spring ‘26 goals of winning a first conference title.
Drexel University
The Blue Hens’ conference foe, Philadelphia’s Drexel University edged out their Delaware rivals in the CAA Conference Championships points standing, partially by the virtue of a gold medal in the Varsity Four in addition to a fifth-place finish in the Third Eight. With two entries in the Club Eight and two in the Championship Eight, the Dragons are reliant on the squad to keep taking big leaps. Director of Rowing Paul Savell re-took the reins of the women’s team this past spring and enters his twentieth season overall at Drexel. His accolades are nearly too numerous to list: CAA Coach of the Year, USRowing’s Fan’s Choice Collegiate Coach of the Year, Dad Vail Coach of the Year, and more. With another season of Coach Savell at the helm, the Drexel Dragons will hit another level in their hunt for gold.
George Washington University
The women of Washington D.C.’s George Washington University enter the fray for the first time this fall. Following a deep performance at their season-ending Atlantic-10 Conference Championships that yielded a silver medal in the Varsity Four and Third Varsity Eight, alongside bronze in the Second Varsity Four, the Revolutionaries can hit the ground running and set the tone for their year if they come out swinging with a gutsy performance from their three lower boats in the Club Eight category.
Lafayette College Crew Club
Unlike the other universities highlighted here, Lafayette College’s entry is the sole club programme; they do not compete at the NCAA championship level as a school-sponsored athletic team, but that in no way diminishes the women’s focus, ambition, spirit, and work ethic in their training. The Leopards have entered their top Varsity Eight combination into the Club Eight, and the team boasts impressive results from both last spring and this fall: at the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championships, the highest profile regatta for other men’s and women’s club teams across the United States, Lafayette captured bronze in the Novice Four, silver in the Varsity Four, and reached the finals to finish 5thin the Double Sculls, in conjunction with a 5th place finish in the Collegiate Four at the 2025 Head of the Charles Regatta.
Predictions
You should expect the University of Pennsylvania to defend their hometown “wooders” in the Women’s Club Eight at the Head of the Schuylkill, bolstered by their depth across the board and a tremendous coaching staff guiding the athletes. Chasing down the Quakers will be the University of Delaware’s Fightin’ Blue Hens, though they’ll be challenged by conference rival Drexel University and D.C.’s George Washington University. But, pay close attention to Lafayette College who, emboldened by a fifth-place medal at the Head of the Charles, will play spoiler.
