It was cloudy, with a breeze, Friday on Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, but there was still enough sun peaking through that kept spectators comfortable as they watched 72 schools compete in the 87th annual Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta.
The nation’s largest rowing event brought another spectacle on Friday, starting with time trails and ending with semifinals in more than 30 events.
Saturday will conclude the festivities with finals starting at 7 a.m. — and one of the heavyweight varsity eight men’s and women’s boats will look to hoist the prestigious Richard O’Brien-James Hanna and Evelyn Bergman trophies, respectively.
This year’s regatta, however, is a bit different compared to previous years — and we’re not just talking about the weather as downpour left folks finding shelter rather than comfort last year.
More schools competed in the 2026 Dad Vail because of what’s at stake.
The top four finishers in the men’s heavyweight varsity eight final will automatically qualify for the IRA national championships. In previous years, only the top two boats earned automatic qualification. Dad Vail is also one of three collegiate regattas where boats can earn automatic bids to the national championships this year.
But even with schools coming from California to Colorado, the Big 5, including Drexel, Temple, La Salle, and St. Joseph’s, continued to dominate the 2,000-meter race. The top 12 times from trails advance to semifinals, which is broken into two races. In the semifinals, the top three finishers move on to the final.
Temple men’s varsity eight boat was the lone Philly-area school competing in the first semifinal. The Owls opened a boat length ahead and finished first, with a time of 5 minutes, 38.94 seconds. MIT (5:41.780) and Colgate (5:42.740) rounded out the qualifiers.
The second men’s race was quite the show with Drexel, La Salle, and St. Joe’s each competing for a spot. The Dragons and Explorers were level with one another till crossing the final buoy, but it was Drexel (5:39.100) who came in first by nearly four seats of the La Salle (5:40.350) boat. St. Joe’s (5:47.600) just missed third place as Gonzaga secured the final spot (5:45.990).
The women’s varsity eight semifinal races closed out the day. Temple (6:36.420) dominated the first race, as Drexel (6:41.210) and Fordham (6:43.830) placed second and third, respectively. MIT, Queens, and Albany rounded out the qualifiers in the second race.
The Dragons have built a dynasty and been the program to beat for over a decade. They won the event last year, earned the overall men’s title, and won gold in the women’s varsity eight. In total, Drexel has won 10 of the last 12 combined men’s and women’s point titles.
» READ MORE: Dad Vail Regatta receives four automatic qualifiers for the IRA national championships in 2026
The women also have a chance to win its third straight varsity eight final and the men could win its fifth straight overall title.
“Drexel’s standards are pretty high, they are recruiting from the top rowing high schools all over the country, said Brian Lucas of Virginia Beach, whose son, Carter Lucas, is a sophomore, rowing the bow seat on Drexel’s varsity four boat and was a preferred walk-on. “[Carter] wanted to come here because they’re a higher-caliber program. … the amount of work you got to put in, it’s a lot of hard work.â€
While there’s a longstanding rivalry between Drexel and La Salle, who placed second in last year’s men’s varsity eight. In recent years, Temple has been added to the conversation.
The Owls won the men’s grand final trophy in 2025 for the first time in four years and placed first in time trails Friday of the men’s varsity eight, clocking in at 5:22.729, as Drexel (5:24.557) and La Salle (5:29.409) trailed behind.
“My son chose Temple over La Salle, Drexel, Holy Cross, Hobart, and Syracuse, because just the way things work here,†Joe Sayer said, who rowed at Temple and his son, Joe Jr., a graduate of Great Valley High School, is a sophomore on the bow seat in the varsity double. “Temple is just known that no matter where you are, what’s going, you’re fighting. He came to fight with his teammates and for his teammates.
Amy Curran of Oklahoma City added: “Similarly, our sons [Nathan, a freshman coxswain, and Adam, a junior rowing port] both chose Temple over these other local schools. They wanted a big program in a big city, at a public university: Temple has all of that.â€
» READ MORE: ‘It’s a Philly Thing’: Documentary goes inside the Drexel-La Salle rowing rivalry | From 2025
On the women’s side, the Owls’ varsity eight finished first (6:10.033) by a wide margin in the time trails, with MIT (6:19.451), St. Joe’s (6:19.603), Western Ontario (6:19.643), and Drexel (6:22.441) trailing more than nine seconds behind.
In the end, however, for the parents who traveled near and far for these races, if there child’s city school isn’t winning, they at least hope it’s another Philadelphia school that does.
“I was up in Princeton a few weeks ago watching these guys race against Princeton in Georgetown, and I was standing there with guys from La Salle, five of them, and we were all hanging out and cheering on the same guys,†Sayer said. “It’s a big fraternity. I think after these guys graduate, 10-15 years from now, they’re probably going to be working for each other or maybe their businesses will be working together. It’s really tight, so they’re fighting out there, but on shore, they’re all part of the same fraternity.â€
