Last weekend Junior Rowing held it’s annual NoVar (Novice/Varsity) race! The NoVar is a long standing tradition for NAC Rowing! This is an intersquad race for the entire NAC Jr. Rowing program where all Varsity and Novice athletes are mixed up into 10+ boats. With lineups consisting of guys and girls, novice and varsity, and varying speeds, it’s anyone’s game! All boats were assigned to one of our 10 coaches along with a color.
The layout of the scrimmage was three 1,000 meter races, starting with a time-trial followed by a semi and a final. All crews hit the water just after 6:30 am with nearly 30 minutes to warm up and get ready for the time-trial. For the time-trial, all boats were sent one by one down the race course, with 15 second centers in between. The C/D semi consisted of 3 bottom times with 3 top times and the A/B semi was structured just the same.
The A Final came down to the White team, Green team, and Purple team all sprinting toward the finish line, with the White team finishing on top for the first time in history. This gave Coach Weston his second NoVar win of his career! We see this event as a fun, energetic, competitive opportunity that boosts morale and bonds our athletes across multiple teams. It was also a culmination of all the Fall & Winter training we have logged thus far and it has only made us more excited to push for more speed as we round this corner into spring season!
Go Newport!
Coach Maddie