The boy’s varsity coxed four event at the SRAA National Championships has the largest senior field this year and is always one of the most competitive. This year’s field at Cooper River, NJ, is one of the most open regarding crews who consider themselves contenders. Many of the Northeast and Midwest teams have faced strong headwinds and flooding, causing slow times or outright cancelled racing in the last few weeks. That means it is all to play for, with no crews establishing a dominant pace this spring.
Haverford School
The Haverford School aims to repeat as national champions in this event, establishing themselves as a
premier sweep team, in addition to their decorated sculling lineage. They narrowly won the Stotesbury Cup time trial but outpaced many of this weekend’s field. Their best win of the season was at the City
Championship in Philadelphia, beating crews like Christian Brothers Academy, Harriton and Holy Ghost
Prep. The Haverford School is a staple of Philadelphia schoolboy rowing, which has known success in this
event, making them a strong favourite to repeat.
Christian Brothers Academy
Playing second fiddle to the Haverford School at both Stotesbury Cup and City Champs, Christian
Brothers Academy (C.B.A) comes into the regatta with something to prove. While conventional wisdom
says Haverford has their number, C.B.A may feel they have cracked the code to come out on top, having
raced their opponents many times this spring. They’ll be looking to flip the script on 2025’s results thus
far, and they will have an excellent opportunity to do it on the biggest stage.
Culver Academies
The Culver Academies are a military-style college preparatory school that hopes to use that discipline and teamwork to achieve their best performance when it counts. After posting a rapid pace to win the time trial at the Midwest Scholastic Championships, they faltered in the final, narrowly losing to rival Upper Arlington. This setback could stunt their speed or catalyse a breakthrough performance. This crew can make the podium if they can execute when the pressure is on.
Other Mentions
The last spots in the grand final will come down to ferocious semifinal racing. Upper Arlington,
Harriton and Bethesda Chevy Chase have the speed and experience to compete for medals
if they make the grand final, while dark horses like Northville, McCallie, and Episcopal
will hope to play spoiler. Tight margins and memorable finishes will highlight an incredibly competitive
year in the varsity four.
Prediction
This event has many teams in contention on paper, but ultimately, winning begets winning. The
Haverford School will go back-to-back, followed by the Culver Academies, and a close race for third
between Christian Brothers Academy and Upper Arlington.
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