On a historic rainy-day race on May 13, the Drexel rowing team won the overall team title and first ever women’s points title on the Schuylkill River at the 79th annual Dad Vail Regatta, the nation’s largest collegiate regatta.
Drexel has now won the overall title at the event five times in a row, each year dating back to 2013. The victory in 2013 was the Dragons’ first Dad Vail title in program history.
The Dragons won both the men’s and women’s varsity eight gold medals en route to seven medals in total for the event — five gold, a silver and a bronze.
This marks the first time since Purdue in 2007 that a school has won both the men’s and women’s heavyweight gold medals at Dad Vail. The gold medal was the first-ever grand finals win for the women’s varsity eight at Dad Vail. For the men, it was the second gold in program history for the varsity eight, with the first coming in 2013.
Drexel has now won 40 of its 62 all-time Dad Vail medals under the guidance of Director of Rowing Paul Savell, who has guided the program now through 10 Dad Vails.