Schuylkill Banks Regatta

Saturday, October 21, 2006

This is the web page for the 2006 Schuylkill Banks Regatta. Check back for updates after January 1, 2007.

Offical results

131 boats, and 462 rowers from 39 high schoools, colleges and clubs representing seven states will compete in the second annual regatta Schuylkill Banks Regatta.

Regatta schedule now posted

PRESENTING SPONSOR: Toll Brothers at Naval Square

DATE, TIME, LOCATION: Saturday, October 21, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The races will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and will launch from Bartram's Garden and finish near Race Street. Spectator viewing areas are at Bartram's Garden (Start Line), Walnut Street and Race Street (Finish Line). A free trolley service will be provided between Bartram's Garden and the finish line.

ACCESS TO VENUE: Visitors can enter Schuylkill Banks from multiple locations. New banners have been placed at most of the entrances, and they include 25th and Locust Street and 25th and Race Street. Other points of access are on the following: the Walnut Street Stairtowers; Market and Chestnut Street Ramps; 25th and Martin Luther King Drive (near Eakins Oval) and at the Fairmount Water Works. All access points, except for the Walnut Street stair towers, are handicapped accessible.

PARKING: Spectators are encouraged to take public transportation and bring their own chairs. Free parking (limited) will be provided at Toll Brothers at Naval Square, 2420 Grays Ferry Avenue. A free trolley service will be provided to take spectators from the parking area to Family Circle. Paid parking is available at 23rd and Race and other nearby lots.

REGATTA DETAILS: Race officiated by the Schuylkill Navy, the non-profit organization that is the governing body of amateur rowing in Philadelphia. Races are "Henley Style" named for the Henley Royal Regatta in London, with boats racing head-to-head. (Most races on the upper Schuylkill have six boats racing in lanes.) Scores of rowers will compete in the collegiate, high school, masters, and open level entries, with ages spanning from 14 to 80 years of age. The 3-mile course begins at the Start Line at Bartram's Gardens, travels along the river through Grey's Ferry, University Avenue and South Street to the Finish Line at Race Street. Rowers will wind along a challenging course, passing under 12 bridges on the lower banks of the Schuylkill River. 560 rowers, kayakers and canoists in 135 boats, representing 42 high schools, colleges and rowing clubs from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Massachusetts and Canada, participated in 2005.

SCHUYLKILL RIVER FACTS: Philadelphia's Schuylkill River is a section of the Schuylkill River Watershed. Covering approximately 1,900 square miles, the Schuylkill River Watershed is roughly 80 miles long and 25 miles wide. Originating in the headwaters of Schuylkill County, the river travels approximately 130 miles to its confluence with the Delaware River where the tidal portion encompasses the last eight miles of the waterway. According to the Philadelphia Water Department's Schuylkill River Source Water Assessment Report (2002), the lower river currently includes only 2% of the Schuylkill River Watershed land area, but represents the single largest population.

ROWING ON THE SCHUYLKILL has historical roots dating back to 1732, when two social clubs called "Colony in Schuylkill" and "Fort St. David" maintained a fleet of boats for fishing and recreation (a monument marks their location at the Sweetbrier cutoff and West River Drive). In subsequent years, the owners of the large estates along the Schuylkill maintained rowing boats for transportation and amusement. The water works dam dramatically altered the river from a tidal stream to a long fresh water lake which drowned the central cataract known as the Falls of the Schuylkill near Midvale Avenue and Kelly Drive. This new character of the river provided a relatively flat calm surface, which became one of the finest venues available for rowing in the country. Much of the history of the U.S. sculling has been established on this ideal stream whose gentle current did not, under ordinary conditions, affect the outcome of the race.