La Salle Rowing Opens Fall Season On Saturday At Penn State

Women's Rowing | October 2, 2014

PHILADELPHIA - Youth abounds on this year's edition of the La Salle rowing program, which kicks off its fall racing season on Saturday at Penn State.

The Explorers will race against Penn State and Susquehanna up in Happy Valley.

"We're really looking forward to the start of the 2014-15 season," second-year Head Coach Tom Madden said in an interview with GoExplorers.TV. "This fall has been dramatically different from a year ago in that the team understands the expectations of the coaching staff."

There is much to be excited about regarding this year's men's and women's teams, as Madden brings in his first full recruiting class. Madden and the rest of the team welcomes 15 freshmen on the men's side and five on the women's side, who will join a group of 29 combined returners from last season. The rookie rowers are no stranger to Philadelphia rowing, however, as 11 of the 15 men hail from the Philadelphia and South Jersey regions as well as three of the five freshmen on the women's team.

"We've brought in a number of experienced freshmen that are coming in to compete and to really add to this team," Madden added. "On the men's side, we have 15 experienced recruited freshmen that are adding to the competitiveness of the group immediately and everyone has a higher sense of urgency because of the dynamic of the group of returners and the number of experienced freshmen we have."

The men's team also welcomes back three seniors, five juniors and five sophomores, while the women's team welcomes back four seniors, six juniors and six sophomores. The number of returners on the women's side means that the squad will be racing nearly two full experienced eight boats.

"On the girls side we are returning almost two full eights ... as well as adding five experienced rowers to the group, which again is adding to the competitiveness of the team," Madden said.

After the races at Penn State this weekend, the Explorers return to Philadelphia next Saturday (10/11) for the Navy Day Regatta on the Schuylkill River. The Head of the Schuylkill is set for Saturday, Oct. 25, where the teams will race and then host a Halloween party at the boathouse that evening. The Explorers head to Fairfax, Va., on Saturday, Nov.1, for the Head of the Occoquan before finishing up the fall race schedule at the Frostbite Regatta on Saturday, Nov. 8. Due to dredging of the Cooper River - the Frostbite's typical home - the regatta will be held on Mercer Lake in Princeton, N.J.

The program will also host its second annual Alumni Row on Saturday, Nov. 29, to welcome former rowers back to the boathouse.

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