This past Saturday, Fordham Women’s Rowing participated in their first race of the Spring 2021 season, facing off against Manhattan College. Though it was only a scrimmage, the race was essential in determining where the team stood after a long competition lay-off. The team has not competed in over 500 days, last racing at the 1969 Cup Regatta in the fall of 2019. Not only was there the hurdle of inactivity to overcome, but COVID-19 cases and contract tracing had left the roster limited. Almost half of the team members were unable to race, contributing even more to the adversity facing the team.

With significant changes to the team in such a short time and a restricted roster, there were a lot of unanswered questions heading into this spring: what was the state of the team? Would these losses to the roster be detrimental to the program? How would this new varsity team fair in the pressure of competition?

All these questions started to be answered on Saturday, and it seems the team’s immediate future is very bright. Both the varsity and the junior varsity (2V) teams won their races with commanding leads over Manhattan. Sophomore Margarita McCoy commented on the event:

“It was a really good way to start the season! It was a very low-pressure note to get back into competition on. I’m looking forward to when we can do it as a full team.” As the team moves forward, they hope to constantly improve and become fully prepared for the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship on May 15.

Varsity 8 Results:

Fordham – 7:18.59

Manhattan – 7:25.7

2V 8 Results:

Fordham – 7:14.09

Manhattan 2V – 7:35.12

Manhattan 3V – 7:53.68

Fordham Rowing’s next challenge comes on April 10, when they will officially start the season against The College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.