Agnes Irwin Brings Home Gold at 2019 National Regatta

Agnes Irwin rowers brought home the gold last weekend, with its Freshmen Quad taking first place in the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the largest scholastic rowing event in the country. AIS raced five crews in the May 17-18 event, held on the Schuylkill River.

After finishing first in the time trial at a time of 5:55 — more than 10 seconds clear of the rest of the field — the Freshmen Quad breezed past the competition in the semi-final. Rowers Chloe Saulnier ’22, Caroline O’Mara ’22, Ashlyn Phelan ’22, and Julia van der Zwan ’22 picked up the pace in the last 500 meters of the Saturday final, edging out a lead to cross the line first with a time of 5:35 — three seconds clear of 2nd place Ridgewood, and seven seconds clear of 3rd place finisher Springside Chestnut Hill.

“We’re so incredibly proud of our freshman girls. They worked so hard for this win, every race they went out with the goal of going faster, and that’s exactly what they did,” said Assistant Coach Charles Jordan. “After narrowly missing the win at Cities two weeks ago, this is a nice little redemption against a very competitive field.”

Peyton Bond ’20 represented Agnes Irwin in the Girls Senior Single category, placing 7th in the final event by virtue of winning the Petite Final with a time of 6:22. Anisah Thomas ’19 and Madeline Briddell ’20 qualified in Friday’s Lightweight Double category time trial and narrowly missed their semi-final qualification, coming in 4th. The AIS Varsity Quad boat — comprised of seniors Jazmyn Knight, Katie McGovern, Sarah Yoh, and sophomore Shreya Kalra — finished 5th in Saturday’s semi-final. Eliza Pendergast ’20 and Ella Haines ’20 finished 13th in the Junior Double category time trial.

“All the girls had great races and they all should be very proud of their performances,” said Head Coach Joss Delussey.

Next up for Agnes Irwin crew is the Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championship Regatta May 24-25 in Dillon Lake, Ohio.