Rowing finished second at the Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday, falling short of reigning champions Rhode Island for the second year in a row, earning 43 points compared to the Rams’ 48.
The Revolutionaries placed first in the varsity four finals — the team’s first victory in this category since 2003 — and the second varsity four finals, but fell short of the Rams in the varsity eight and second varsity eight finals, giving Rhode Island the five crucial points needed to secure victory. GW’s second place finish at the regatta, held on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J., mirrors last year’s championship, when the Revolutionaries came up shy of the Rams by just four points.
While Saturday’s silver-medal placement underscored the Revs’ perpetual challenges in besting the Rams at the championship, Head Coach Paul Allbright spoke highly of all five boats’ finishes and said the team’s season-long development, plus the incoming class of rowers, puts the program in a good spot heading into the 2026-27 season.
“Win, lose, or draw our main goal this year for A-10s was for everyone to compete at or near their best when it mattered the most,” Allbright said in an email. “Moreover, we wanted each student-athlete to be able to feel proud of their performance and we can confidently say that happened today.”
The Revs found themselves ahead early, with the V4, V8 and 2V8 boats all comfortably placing first in their qualifying heats, with 07:46.949, 06:54.554 and 06:40.424 finishes, respectively.
The Revs then kicked off the non-scoring finals, a three-team competition that included the second varsity four and third varsity eight boats, with the 2V4 promptly securing first place, crossing the finish line three seconds ahead of second-place Duquesne at 07:57.668. The 3V8 final saw the Revs come in second behind Rhode Island, crossing the finish line at 07:29.987, just over 17 seconds after the Rams, who clocked a 07:12.925 finish.
The varsity four final, the first six-team competition in the scoring finals, included GW, Rhode Island, Fordham, George Mason, Duquesne and La Salle. In a back-and-forth contest between the Revs and La Salle, GW ultimately prevailed, gaining a slight lead just after the seven-minute marker and crossing the finish line with a 07:37.268 finish, earning 9 points. Allbright said the Revs’ four-person boats were prepared for their races from their preparation and competitions all season long.
“Both of our fours have been battle-tested this year which prepared them for the tight racing they experienced today,” Allbright said. “Assistant Coach Breanna Roney, as the primary coach of the fours group, has done a phenomenal job in her first year preparing them for the championship moment.”
Despite their early success, GW failed to overcome Rhode Island in the 2V8 and V8 finals. The Revs and the Rams got out to an early lead in the 2V8 final, and were the clear front-runners by the 05:30 marker. Rhode Island took a clear lead shortly thereafter, earning the competition’s gold medal finish at 06:39.501 and earning 18 points, with the Revs finishing roughly four seconds later at 06:43.787, earning 16 points.
Entering the V8 final, GW had 25 points, leading Rhode Island, at 24, but the Rams prevailed again, with Fordham and GW duking it out for second place. The Revs fell into third place late, however, as Rhode Island cruised to a more than three-second victory over Fordham, giving them a four-point advantage over GW, securing the A-10 title and earning their third straight automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
Allbright said Rhode Island’s team cohesion has helped them dominate the conference over the past several years.
“URI has established itself as the program to beat since 2018,” Allbright said. “This winning tradition instills a lot of confidence into their boats and presents a challenge the rest of the conference needs to meet. What’s more, their head coach has been there for 20 years which further solidifies a team culture that finds a way to win more often than not.”
Despite an almost identical finish to last year’s championship, Allbright said he was proud of how all his crews performed, including the V8, 2V8 and 3V8 boats.
“All three 8s had hard fought races, worthy of the championship final, and the coaching staff is proud of each of these crews’ performances,” Allbright said.
Allbright added that the coaching staff had expected strong performances from Fordham and Rhode Island, and that the Revs’ strong efforts simply were not enough to overcome the competition. He said despite the second-place finish, he is proud of the subtle improvements the team made throughout the season.
“While the team technically finished in the same second-place position as last year, there were major steps taken towards winning another A-10 championship in the future,” he said. “The roster saw tremendous improvements in team culture, ergometer test scores, and on-the-water rowing technique.”
Allbright added that the high volume of underclass rowers on the roster will help the team remain among the top conference contenders next year.
“The nucleus of our team also remains young, with only five graduating from the points scoring boats and 10 of those 20 rowers being first-years, which will allow us to continue this exponential growth curve next year,” Allbright added.
Following another silver-medal finish, Allbright said he wants to quickly integrate his incoming freshman class to get ahead of the competition sooner.
“Our returning student-athletes have been challenged to use the summer offseason to train on their own at a higher level than this past cycle,” Allbright said. “Simply put, the goal is to return to Foggy Bottom in better shape than the team did in fall 2025. If we can hit the ground running and quickly incorporate the new class of recruits, then we will be starting next year’s build from a higher starting point.”
