The Stotesbury Cup Regatta , sponsored by the Schuylkill Navy , is the world's oldest and largest high school rowing competition. It is held annually in mid-May over a two-day period on the Schuylkill River near Boathouse Row in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Competing crews come from schools all over North America , though most hail from the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States .
18-523: The regatta has many different events (31 in 2022) in which high school crews compete for various cups and trophies. Events vary by sex, age, weight category, number of rowers, and discipline of rowing (whether sweeping with one oar per rower or sculling with two oars per rower). The regatta takes its name from the Boys Senior Eight race, one of the premier events at the regatta, in which crews of eight oarsmen and one coxswain compete for
36-718: A particular area or boat type, but are often held just for the joy of competition, camaraderie , and general promotion of the sport. One of the largest and most popular rowing regattas is the Henley Royal Regatta held on the River Thames , England. One of the largest and oldest yachting regattas in the world is Cowes Week , which is held annually by the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes , England, and usually attracts over 900 sailing boats. Cowes Week
54-459: A single one design class and usually last more than one day. Regattas may be hosted by a yacht club , sailing association, town or school as in the case of the UK's National School Sailing Association and Interscholastic Sailing Association (high school) regattas or Intercollegiate Sailing Association (college) regattas. The Barcolana regatta of the yacht club Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano
72-476: Is a series of boat races. The term comes from the Venetian language , with regata meaning "contest, contention for mastery"(from regatare ("compete, haggle, sell at retail"), possibly from recatare ) and typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas. A regatta often includes social and promotional activities which surround
90-723: Is currently the Guinness world record holder as the "largest sailing race" with 2,689 boats and over 16,000 sailors at the starting line. Currently, The Three Bridge Fiasco, conducted by the Singlehanded Sailing Society of San Francisco Bay with more than 350 competitors is the largest sailboat race in the United States. Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing . The grandstand
108-536: Is in essence like a single section of a stadium , but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way around. Grandstands may have basic bench seating, but usually have individual chairs like a stadium. Grandstands are also usually covered with a roof , but are open on the front. They are often multi-tiered. Grandstands are found at places like Epsom Downs Racecourse and Atlanta Motor Speedway . They may also be found at fairgrounds , circuses , and outdoor arenas used for rodeos . In
126-608: Is predated by the Cumberland Cup (1775), Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta (1822) and Port of Plymouth Regatta (1823). North America 's oldest regatta is the Royal St. John's Regatta held on Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's, Newfoundland every year since 1818. There exist other traditional and centuries old boat races like Vallam kali of Kerala, India and Dragon Boat Race from China. Sailing race events are typically held for
144-499: The United States , smaller stands are called bleachers , and are usually far more basic and typically single-tiered (hence the difference from a "grand stand"). Early baseball games were often staged at fairgrounds, and the term "grandstand" came along when standalone baseball parks began to be built. A covered bleacher may be called a " pavilion ", also to distinguish from the main "grandstand". The term grandstanding , from
162-453: The semi-final round. Semi-finals begin later on the first day and continue on the second day. Finals begin in the afternoon of the second day. Events are ordered so that small boats race before the larger ones, and the regatta culminates in either the Boys or Girls Senior Eight final race, alternating every year. After each final is finished, the best three boats dock at the grandstands next to
180-695: The Lightweight Eight and Senior Eight categories and Bishop Eustace Preparatory School won the Senior Eight category for three consecutive years (2007-2009). Merion Mercy Academy having won Silver in 2016 in the Girls Senior Eight won Gold in both the Girls Senior Four and Lightweight Eight in 2017. The Stotesbury racecourse is the standard high school length of 1500 meters. It begins a few hundred meters upstream from
198-465: The Senior Eight category twice (2016-2017) and finished second once (2014) in the last four years. The Boys Lightweight 8 category for the James R. Muldowney Memorial Trophy has been dominated by St. Joseph's Prep . On May 18, 2019, they won for the 10th consecutive time (2010-2019) and the 20th time in the last 23 years. Mount Saint Joseph Academy has also emerged in recent years with strong showings in
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#1732782653299216-655: The Stotesbury Cup more than any other school with 15 wins of the Boys Senior 8+. St. Joseph's Prep additionally is the only school to sweep all the boys 8+ events having done it in 1997, 2008, 2023 and 2024. Gonzaga College High School , winner of the previous five Boys Senior Eight events from 2012 to 2016, was overtaken by Montclair High School for first place in the Boys Senior Eight. Meanwhile, in Girls events, National Cathedral School (Washington, D.C.) has won
234-967: The Stotesbury Cup. The Stotesbury Cup in turn is named for Edward T. Stotesbury of Philadelphia, a prominent partner at J.P. Morgan & Co. and its Philadelphia affiliate, Drexel & Co. The Girls Senior Eights compete for the Robert Engman Trophy. The regatta has been running boys races since 1927; girls events were added in the mid-1970s. Powerhouse schools in boys events include Episcopal Academy , Christian Brothers Academy , St. Augustine Preparatory School , LaSalle High School , Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas , Holy Spirit , Walt Whitman High School (Maryland) , Atlantic City High School , St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) , The Haverford School , St. Joseph's Prep , Gonzaga College High School , Winter Park High School , St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute and Roman Catholic High School for Boys . Currently, St. Joseph's Prep has won
252-570: The Strawberry Mansion Bridge and finishes downstream just before the Columbia Railroad Bridge. It is a six-lane course, and as in most races the favored crews are positioned in the middle lanes (lanes 2, 3, and 4). The river current is strongest in the final four hundred meters of the race as crews pass Peters Island on the west side of the course. Lanes 5 and 6, closest to Peters Island, along with lane 1, on
270-454: The finish line to receive their medals. The 2nd and 3rd place boats receive their medals while sitting and the boat, and the first place boat goes up on to the dock to receive their medals and trophy. The Stotesbury Cup Regatta continues to grow in its size and level of competition as high school rowing gains popularity. In 2000, about 3,500 athletes competed in the regatta. In 2016, 5,679 athletes from 191 schools competed in 984 boats to make it
288-558: The largest Stotesbury yet. As the sport continues to grow, this trend will likely persist as more and more rowers carry on the Stotesbury tradition. Regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats , or other types of watercraft , race on water . Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt , and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed. A regatta
306-410: The opposite shore, generally have the slowest water current, making them the least desirable lanes in this downstream racecourse. Like most similar regattas, each event begins with a time trial, similar to a head race, with results being determined by who has the fastest time. The starting order is based on the finish order from the previous year's regatta. The fastest crews in each time trial advance to
324-406: The racing event, and except in the case of boat type (or "class") championships, is usually named for the town or venue where the event takes place; for example “valley field”. Although regattas are typically amateur competitions, they are usually formally structured events, with comprehensive rules describing the schedule and procedures of the event. Regattas may be organized as championships for
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