By Alex Speir

The Fordham women’s rowing team competed this weekend in the Fall Metropolitan Championship Regatta in Orchard Beach, New York.

The Rams raced in the novice 8+, novice 4+, varsity 8+ and varsity 4+ races. Eight crews raced this weekend for Fordham and six of the crews won gold medals.

The Fordham teams won the Women’s Novice 4 race with a time of 6:49.0 edging out Fairfield, Sarah Lawrence, Manhattan College and Iona.

The Fordham B team won the Women’s Varsity 4 race with a time of 7:13.0, just six seconds ahead of second place Fairfield.

The Fordham A, B and C teams each won their heats in the Women’s Varsity 8 race.

“This regatta was a sprint race and the last competition of our fall season where we went out with a bang,” said assistant coach Alyssa Dewey. “It was great to see each of the crews’ progress throughout the season and finish with such successful performances this last weekend.”

The successful weekend in Orchard Beach left rower Kristen Shuman satisfied with the performance of the Rams.

“This past weekend at the Fall Metropolitan Championships, the Rams had a clean sweep, winning almost every race in which we were entered,” said senior rower Kristen Shuman. “In the Fall Metropolitan Championships, we compete against neighboring schools: Fairfield, Marist, Iona, Sacred Heart, Sarah Lawrence, Manhattan College and more. Many of our rowers raced twice, both in 4+s and 8+s throughout the day. One of the highlights included the Varsity 8+ winning the Christeen Steffen Memorial Cup for having the fastest race overall.”

The Fordham women’s rowing team will now work in preparation for their regular season in the spring.

“Now that our fall racing season has concluded, we are entering our winter training phase to refine our technique and work on our fitness before the start of our official racing season in the spring,” said Dewey. “I’m very much looking forward to seeing what our program is capable of achieving in our regular, sprint-racing season.”