Stotesbury Cup

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The Stotesbury Cup Regatta, sponsored by the Schuylkill Navy, is "the world's oldest and largest high school rowing competition."^[1] It is held annually in mid-May over a two-day period along the Schuylkill River near Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although there is no official U.S. national high school rowing championship, Stotesbury is certainly one of the most prestigious. Competing crews come from schools all over North America, though most hail from the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States, and some even come from private schools in Dallas, Texas.

The regatta has many different events (28 in 2007)^[2] in which high school crews compete for various cups and trophies. Events vary by sex, age, weight category, number of rowers, and style of rowing (whether sweeping with one oar per rower or sculling with two oars per rower). The regatta takes its name from the main event, the Men's Senior Eight race, in which crews of eight oarsmen and one coxswain compete for the Stotesbury Cup. The Stotesbury Cup in turn is named for Edward T. Stotesbury of Philadelphia, a prominent partner at J.P. Morgan & Co. and its Philadelphia affiliate, Drexel & Co. The Women's Senior Eights compete for the Robert Engman Trophy. The regatta has been running men's races since 1927; women's events were added in the mid 1970s. Powerhouse schools in men's events include St. Joe's Prep, Thomas Jefferson, and Holy Spirit, while in women's events Mount Saint Joe's Academy has emerged in recent years with strong showings in the Lightweight Eight and Senior Eight categories.

The Racecourse

The Stotesbury racecourse is the standard high school length of 1500 meters. It begins a couple hundred meters upstream from the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and finishes downstream just before the Columbia Railroad Bridge (see a map of the racecourse). It is a six-lane course, and as in most races the favored crews are positioned in the middle lanes. The river current is strongest in the final four hundred meters of the race as crews pass Peters Island on the west side of the course. Lane 6, closest to Peters Island, generally has the slowest water current, making it the least desirable lane in this downstream racecourse.

Organization

Stotesbury's unique racing format does not have heats, 6 boats across racing in the normal sprint fashion, as the opening event. instead, each event goes in a time trial format, similar to a head race, but only covering 1500 meters. the starting order is based on the finish order from the previous year's regatta. The best crews of which advance to the semi-final round. Semi-finals begin later on the first day and continue on the second day. Finals begin in the afternoon of the second day. Events are ordered so that small boats race before the larger ones, and the regatta culminates in either the Men's or Women's Senior Eight final race, alternating every year. After each final is finished, the best three boats dock at the grandstands next to the finish line to receive their medals.

The Stotesbury Cup Regatta continues to grow in size and level of competition as high school rowing gains popularity. In 2000, about 3,500 athletes competed in the regatta. In 2007, over 5,000 athletes from 175 schools competed in 850 boats to make it the largest Stotesbury yet.^[3] As the sport continues to grow, this trend will likely persist as more and more rowers carry on the Stotesbury tradition.