May 8, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Temple men's crew will have four shells competing in the 70th annual Dad Vail Regatta, when the largest intercollegiate rowing event with over 115 colleges competing officially gets underway this Friday morning. The Owls will row a Varsity 8, Junior Varsity 8, Varsity 4 and Freshman/Novice 4 boats at the Regatta, held on the Schuylkill River.

"We have a pretty experienced crew, but we've had our ups and downs," Temple head coach Gavin White said. "We have five experienced rowers from last year, which finished second in the men's varsity eight. Of these, four have rowed together for four years at St. Joseph's Prep before coming to Temple."

The Owls' have won 19 Dad Vail Regattas under White's tutelage and will be looking to dethrone reigning champion Purdue in the Varsity 8 race.

The Varsity 4 opens the racing for the Owls with its first heat at 7:35 a.m. Friday. The Varsity 8 races in its heat at 10:38 a.m. with the Freshman/Novice 4 (11:59 a.m.) and JV 8 (4:51 p.m.) shells competing later.

The boats will be attempting to make it through Friday's heats and into the finals which will be held Saturday.