University of Louisville
RED & BLACK REGATTA
Louisville Rowing Opens Fall with Red & Black Regatta
October 05, 2016 | Rowing
Cardinals honor UofL faculty representative Elaine Wise with boat dedication
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville rowing team opened its fall racing schedule Saturday morning with the 10th annual Red & Black Regatta at the G. Garvin Brown III Rowing Center at Waterfront Park. The regatta included eight races along the Ohio River and a boat dedication honoring UofL faculty representative Elaine Wise.
"This event is an opportunity for the community and the parents of our rowers, especially the novice, to see this sport up close and personal. It's also a showcase of the sport because you get to see the boats over and over again," said Louisville head coach Derek Copeland. "A lot of our boats are named for quotes or phrases, but with this particular dedication, we wanted to do something for Elaine Wise, who is pretty special to everyone in the athletic department. Elaine shares the story of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, each year with our student-athletes, so we felt like it was the perfect fit to name one of our boats Athena in Elaine's honor."
Saturday's event featured the largest crowd in the 10 years of the regatta, including the largest alumni representation. On Friday night, the Cardinals hosted an alumni event, organized by Louisville assistant coach and alumnus Hannah Ritter and UofL rowing alum Kelsey Webb.
"The alumni have built this and they created the culture in the program. The student-athletes we recruit now are very similar to our past athletes because character is important and they have been very good role models for what is successful in this environment," Copeland said. "Having so many alumni back in town for this event and to celebrate the growth and progress of the program is special and it's important to our coaching staff."
On the water, the racing on Saturday was highly competitive and very entertaining for the fans. The Louisville coaches included numerous personnel combinations in the boats, which served as a helpful trial test for future events. The races included international student-athletes against American-born rowers, an all-Kentucky race, East coast versus Midwest rowers, an all-junior race, an alumni boat against senior rowers and an all alumni competition.
Along with the racing and the boat dedication ceremony, the Red & Black Regatta also featured a welcome from Copeland as well as introductions of the Cardinals rowers and coaching staff. A cookout with the Louisville rowing student-athletes, coaches and fans followed the racing.
Fans can follow Louisville rowing on Twitter (@UofLrowing) at http://twitter.com/uoflrowing, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/UofLRowing and on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/uoflrowing.
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