The University of Pennsylvania heavyweight rowing team will travel to Lake Carnegie on April 10 to race against Princeton and Columbia, with the Childs Cup at stake in the Varsity Eights event. Stanford will also participate as a guest crew. Later in the day, Penn’s top three boats are scheduled to compete against Syracuse on the same course.
The Childs Cup is one of collegiate rowing’s oldest trophies, and its history is significant for Penn, Princeton, and Columbia. According to the university’s announcement, “Princeton leads the Childs Cup standings, with 55 victories—compared to Penn’s 44 wins and Columbia’s 12—and have captured all but one of the races dating back to 1994 (Columbia breaking the run with a win in 2009). That includes a three-second victory over the second-place Quakers last year at Overpeck Park. Penn’s last victory came in 1993 on the Schuylkill.”
In national rankings released earlier this week by IRCA/IRA, Penn’s Varsity Eight holds tenth place while their rivals also feature prominently: Princeton is ranked fourth, Stanford seventh, Syracuse ninth, and Columbia nineteenth.
Racing begins Saturday morning with multiple events featuring various combinations of teams. The schedule includes five morning races starting at 8:08 a.m., followed by afternoon contests beginning at 1:32 p.m., where Penn faces Syracuse and other competitors across several boat classes.
The origins of the Childs Cup date back to 1879 when George W. Childs presented it as a challenge cup for four-oared races among these universities. The format changed in 1889 to eight-oared crews; since then Cornell, Navy, and California have occasionally participated as guests.
Updates about Penn men’s heavyweight rowing can be found through their social media accounts or on their official athletics website.
