RFH Rowing Makes History at Nationally Renowned Stotesbury Regatta

​RFH Rowing made history at the 92nd Annual Stotesbury Regatta on the Skuylkill River in Philadelphia May 17th and 18th by having five of its eight boats compete in the semi-finals and two of its boats compete in the finals. At Stotesbury, one of the largest scholastic regattas nationwide, crews from 189 high schools with 5,495 athletes in the United States and Canada compete for the best race time.  RFH Rowing’s fielded eight separate boats in races from the freshman to varsity level.  To make it to the final races all entries participate in a time-trial (head race) and the top 12 or 18 teams to move to semi-finals (depending on the number of boats in the time-trial), and only the top six boats make it to the final races. 
 
The five RFH Rowing boats that made it to semi-finals included the Women’s Freshman 8+, Men’s JV4+, Women’s JV4x, Women’s Varsity, and Men’s Varsity 4+.  The two RFH Rowing boats that made it to the finals included the Women’s JV 4x and Men’s V4+. At Stotesbury after semi-finals, the Women’s Freshman 8+ was 10th out of 47 boats; Men’s JV4+ was 8th out of 59 boats; and Women’s Varsity 4+ was 15th out of 58 boats.  In finals, the Women’s JV 4x was 6th out of 23 boats and Men’s Varsity4+ was 6th out of 54 boats. Previously RFH rowing had only sent 7 boats to the semi-finals and 1 made it to finals.
 
RFH Rowing owes it history-making feat to tremendous hard work and practice and is grateful for its ever-growing community support. Head Coach Andrew Hudson, said, “Stotesbury results were the manifestation of our athletes steadfast, year-round training.”  He noted athletes row and spend countless hours in weight room. “Morning and afternoon double-sessions, dedication to proper nutrition and hydration, and proper sleeping habits:  it's a cumulative effect and the results speak for themselves,” he added.  
 
RFH Rowing is a self-funded public school program competing against private school and club teams.  RFH Rowing’s pool of athletes is exclusively sourced from the two coastal towns of Rumson and Fair Haven, while private and club teams are not limited to this.  With fundraising efforts, generous donations, corporate sponsors, and the support of the Borough of Rumson this team is able to compete with the best of the best.  “Our community supports our athletes and without that we could not compete, said Beth Sanville, President of RFH Rowing Booster Club. “We need new, state-of-the art boats, oars, and training equipment and all of that comes thanks to fundraising and sponsorships. ” Sponsors include: Morgan Stanley, Stifel, World Subaru, IMA, Alliant/Boynton, EZ Docks Marine Construction, Jersey Mikes of Red Bank, Jersey Devil Sport Fishing, Zebra Medical Vision and many more local businesses.
 
The athletes train hard under the supervision of their well-experienced coaches, and practice and compete in new to fairly new boats and equipment. Assistant Coaches Amanda Durborow, Josh Prown, Magdy Hannout, and Ed Reilly assist Head Coach Andrew Hudson. This past spring, RFH Rowing participated in several regattas in the tri-state area bringing home 10 gold and 6 silver medals.  These medals came from competitions in the men’s, women’s and freshman-novice 8+, JV4+, JV4x, V4+, and V4x events.  Competing in these regattas helped prepare these athletes for Stotesbury competition. 
 
Dan Edwards of Rumson, N.J. founded RFH Rowing over 10 years ago.   He started this program providing opportunities for many Rumson and Fair-Haven high school athletes to pursue the sport of rowing.  Over 35 athletes have been recruited to row at the collegiate level from Rumson Fair-Haven Regional High School, with new athletes rowing in college with each graduating class.  To support the RFH Rowing program, visit RFHRowing.org and be sure to attend the 10th Annual Rumson Boat Race on September 20 and 21, 2019.  The Rumson Boat Race is a collegiate regatta held on the Navesink River visible from Victory Park in Rumson, N.J.