Crew team keeps rolling with big wins at Knecht | The Triangle

Crew team keeps rolling with big wins at Knecht

According to sophomore rower Ivo Krakic, a Croatia native who rows in the men’s varsity eight boat, the rowing team has had its ups and downs this season, but things look like they are finally shaping up for good.

On April 11-12 at the Knecht Cup Regatta, the Drexel University crew team rowed their way to four gold medals.

“[The] men’s side of the team had a very successful weekend, winning four gold medals and one bronze,” Krakic said.

On Mercer Lake, the medals came from the men’s first and second varsity eight boats, the freshman eight and the freshman four. Bronze was awarded to the men’s varsity eight A boat.

In their races, Drexel beat some fierce competition in strong programs like Hobart College, Boston College, U.S. Armed Forces, and Bucknell University.

While the women didn’t medal, their weekend was still a great success and showed improvement from years past.

“On the women’s side, varsity eight finished fifth in the grand finale, which is the best finish for them in the last six years,” Krakic said. The women’s second varsity eight also took second place in their respective grand finale.

While the team has already been successful thus far, the wins this weekend are instrumental in helping to keep the rowing squad on a roll.

“Those wins came at the right time,” Krakic said. “It was a great confidence boost, especially because we’ve [now] beaten the team that had won [the Knecht Cup] last year.”

However, while the wins were important to the team, the student-athletes and coaching staff are eager to keep their motivation high and their eyes on the prize.

“Even though it was a huge win, we know that the hardest part of the season is yet to come and we, with the help of our amazing coaching staff, are doing everything we can to get faster and make our fans proud,” Krakic said.

Krakic, quite the friendly student-athlete, wanted to use his interview to talk about more than just the team’s success this weekend and their goals for the end of the season — he wants all the Drexel sports fans to know that crew needs some love, too.

“I would like to use this opportunity and invite everyone to come and support us,” Krakic said enthusiastically.

Specifically, after asking for the Dragon sports sector’s support, he had a message he wanted to convey about the Dad Vail Regatta. The regatta, held May 8, is the last of three races that will be held locally on the Schuylkill River in the next four weeks, which he hopes supporters will attend. Before the Dad Vail, Drexel will race in the Kerr Cup Regatta April 18 and the Bergen Cup Regatta April 25. Both will also take place on the Schuylkill.

“The main focus right now is of course to get faster. We have one of our biggest races coming up on May 8 and that is Dad Vail Regatta,” he said. “The main goal is to do our best at Dad Vail’s and earn a bit to [Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championships] where we get to race best teams in the country.”

The Dragons hit the water on the Schuylkill again this weekend for the Kerr Cup — and if you’ve paid any attention to Krakic, hopefully you’ll see him and the rest of the rowing team there.