Drexel finishes on top in rain-shortened Dad Vail Regatta

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Drexel finishes on top in rain-shortened Dad Vail Regatta. Jeff Chirico reports during Action News at 6 p.m. on May 13, 2017.

KELLY DRIVE (WPVI) -- Drexel University came out on top at the Dad Vail Regatta, taking home the overall points trophy at the rain-shortened event.

The good news for Drexel came after races for Saturday had to be cut short due to the heavy rain.

Drexel University men and women's crew teams won the overall points trophy for the fifth time in as many years.

"Oh it's great. Full team effort. I'm so happy. They worked so hard," said Drexel University coach Paul Savell.

The win comes on a soggy second day at the Regatta.

Oars hit the water early to beat the heaviest rain.

But by 10:30 a.m., organizers called it quits, cancelling some of the event's minor races.

Jim Hanna, the President of Dad Vail Regatta organizing committee said, "Issues of hypothermia, cold and look at the condition of the athletes, we made the decision for safety reasons to get people off the water."

It meant the freshman team from Michigan missed out on competing in their final.

"It kind of stinks but it's still fun to come out with the team. It's a good experience," said Ashley Brzozowski of Michigan State University.

"We're used to rowing in this. Kind of a bummer it got cancelled. We definitely we practice in water like this every day pretty much," said Michigan coach, Michael O'Keefe.

But the driving rain and wind weren't all bad.

The champion Lady Dragons consider it a bonus.

"Today we had a tail wind so it made our boats go faster," said Abigail Colasacco of Long Island, New York.

"We've been trained to row our best race in whatever kind of conditions. That's really what we put out there today," said Nupur Parikh of Kennett Square.

And it paid off.

These five gold winning seniors also won the top women's title making Drexel and Philadelphia proud.

Marina Forster of Lower Merion said, "This is our river. This is where we practice every day. This is where we compete almost every weekend, so to be able to bring this trophy home is really special.

Action News was also there Friday, where even gray skies couldn't bring down the mood on the Schuylkill River.