The Exeter girls first boat finished second this weekend at the USRowing Youth National Championship regatta at Harsha Lake outside of Cincinatti, Ohio. This impressive silver-medal finish at the country’s most competitive youth regatta culminates a tremendous season for the girls first boat.

The 2000 meter regatta is organized as a double-elimination semifinal wherein a given boat has two chances to get a spot in the semifinal races. The exact setup depends on the number of entries in the event. For the girls eight event, all twenty-three entries initially rowed in one of four heats on Friday. Exeter finished second to Marin Rowing Association in 6:59.95. All twelve crews that finished in the top three qualified directly for a slot in one of the three Saturday afternoon semifinals; the remaining eleven went on to race in one of the two Saturday morning repechage heats. In these intermediate races, the top three boats also earn slots in the afternoon semifinals. In the semifinals, Exeter finished second to Maritime Rowing Club in 6:53.10. The top two crews from each semifinal go to Sunday’s grand final, the middle two crews go to the petite final and the bottom two crews go to the C-final. In the grand final, Exeter finished second to Marin in 6:45.05.

This silver-medal finish represents the highest attainment at the national level for an Exeter girls boat in thirty-six years since the start of the program in 1973. It also ties the record for the highest attainment at the national level for any NEIRA girls crew ever. Even more remarkably, such success comes after twelve of eighteen members of the varsity squad graduated in 2008.

A big congratulations to all rowers, coxswains and coaches for their tremendous finish to the season.