The headquarters for the men’s and women’s rowing teams’ annual GW Invitational Regatta, scheduled for this weekend, may be moved due to the United States government shutdown, men’s rowing head coach Mark Davis said Thursday.
The Regatta is the largest collegiate rowing competition in the Washington metropolitan area, with men’s and women’s crews from 12 different universities competing. The planned headquarters are the Thompson Boat Center, which is built on land administered by the National Park Service. In the case of a government shutdown, all National Parks will be closed, meaning the Boat Center will not be in operation, forcing the Regatta to change its headquarters.
“We won’t know until midnight tomorrow night whether the government decides to shut down. If they do. Thompson Boat Center will shut down,” Davis said. “If that is the case, we can still use the river, it’s just us getting access to the river is the issue. So we’ll be using docks at Potomac Boat Club and the Washington Canoe and Kayak Center.”
The Potomac Boat Club is located at 350 Water Street NW, along the banks of the Potomac River, upstream from the Key Bridge in Georgetown. The Washington Canoe and Kayak Center is located upstream, as well, at 3700 Water Street NW. Davies said that the potential location change shouldn’t deter spectators from attending the Regatta.
“It’s still on the same stretch of river, [and] the best place to watch from would be on the Washington Harbor Complex. We’ll have TVs set up there screening the races,” Davis said, adding, “The regatta will still be going on. We have a plan B.”
The GW Invite is scheduled to start Saturday April 9, at 8 a.m., and continue Sunday April 10 at 9 a.m.