SARASOTA, Fla. (March 29, 2025) – The novice men's 4 toped the day with Rollins' only first-place finish. The Tars were able to secure a silver and bronze in the Men's Pair and were just out of the medals, in fourth place, in the Varsity 8, Varsity 4 and JV4. The JV8 rounded out the day finishing fifth in their event.
The novice men's 4 (Claire Opal-Levine, Dylan Drew, Arturs Bergs, Devlin Beaubouef, Enrique Mediato Diaz) not only took home the gold but their race was by far the best of the day. And when we say "BEST", we mean the most exciting and closest of the day with their margin of victory being just .1 second. Rollins crossed the line with a time of 7:02.6 while Jacksonville crossed at 7:02.7. The time difference only paints part of the picture. Here is how the race played out. The 7-12 mph cross wind laid down just as the crews backed into the stake boats. There was still a light chop on the water, but the course was the best it had been all day. Attention....GO! All the boats shot off the line, but it was clear, even before the settle, this was a race between Rollins and Jacksonville. Rollins took a half a boat lead through the 500m mark, and this is how it stayed a majority of the race. Jacksonville's stroke rate was 37 while Rollins stuck to their 36. Jacksonville would make moves to try and work into the Rollins boat, but Rollins responded each time. Each time until the crews were 1400m into the race. With 600m to go, Jacksonville started to move on Rollins. As both crews passed the 1500m mark, Jacksonville had drawn even and started taking inches on Rollins. As the crews hit the red buoys, marking 250m to go, Rollins was down by 6 inches. It looked like Jacksonville may have gotten a momentum boost, but Rollins was not having it. The Tars responded. With 150 m, 15 strokes to go, it was back and forth. Rollins then nudged their bowball slightly ahead of Jacksonville and as the crews crossed the line it was tough to call. It looked like Rollins had the win from the bike path on the opposite shore from the finish tower, but you never know the exact line the referees are using. When the results were posted moments later, Rollins was indeed victorious. "What a fun race to watch and what an even better race to be part of," commented Coach Pistor. "This is the type of race these athletes will never forget and one that will build confidence throughout this season and beyond."
Rollins was consistently fourth behind some quality crews of Jacksonville, Florida Tech and Embry-Riddle. These crews are no joke in the rowing world and the Florida crews continue to show there is speed down here and Rollins continues to work to push this standard.
Rollins has the next couple weeks to make adjustments and train as they prepare for their Southern Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The regatta is April 18-19 and will be livestreamed for free. I will send the link out as soon as it is available so that crew alumni, friends and followers can cheer on the TARS from around the country.
