Over 100 alumni and parents gathered on Cayuga Lake on Saturday for the men’s heavyweight, lightweight and women’s rowing teams that unofficially started their seasons with the Schwartz Cup.
The Schwartz Cup has a 150-year history at Cornell and consists of two 4.5k races where each class competes against each other. There is also a 500-meter sprint, five alumni races, and a christening ceremony for a new boat.
Cornell Athletics Director Nicki Moore was also in attendance helping to dedicate the men’s lightweight rowing bay to Raymond Randolph ’69, who was a renowned rower and multi-million dollar donor to the rowing team before his death in 2020.
Charlotte Langlois ’28 represented the women’s rowing sophomore class and told The Sun that the Schwartz Cup was one of her “favorite traditions.”
It is a very special opportunity that we get every year to compete within our classes,” Langlois said. “It is especially great when we have a ton of alumni and family back to support us and spend time together throughout the weekend.”
On top of racing each other, the classes also compete in a costume competition that spans across all three teams with one overall winner. Former head coach of the men’s heavyweight team, Todd Kennet, previously told The Sun that the costume tradition was started by Dick Schwartz ’60.
“Everybody thought it'd be funny to do a little costume, and a boat came down with reindeer antlers and a Santa Claus hat. That was the start of the whole thing,” Kennet said. “After a while, it took off, and everybody started putting more effort into the costumes. One year, Jean Schwartz [Schwartz’ wife] decided there was so much spirit in it, so she offered a cup for the best costume.”
The women’s senior class won the race, besting the junior class by just 6.6 seconds. The women’s sophomore and freshman classes followed, clocking in at 40:07.2 and 42:51.0 minutes, respectively.
For the men’s heavyweight team, the junior class claimed victory with a time of 33:37.5. The freshmen trailed closely at 34:22.7, with the sophomores just three seconds behind at 34:25.4. The seniors finished at 34:41.5.
The men’s lightweight senior class posted the fastest time of the meet, clocking in at 33:34.2. The sophomores and juniors followed with times of 34:32.9 and 35:09.7, respectively.
“Looking forward to the rest of our fall season, I am really excited to continue racing and getting faster as a team,” Languois said. “Each class put out a fantastic race, so as we move into racing teams outside of Cornell, it will be super cool to see how we all will continue to grow together and race as fast as possible.”
All three rowing teams will officially start their season when they travel to Boston for the Head of the Charles Regatta on Sunday, Oct. 19, with times to be announced the week of the event.
Zeinab Faraj is a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the features editor on the 143rd Editorial Board and was the assistant sports editor of the 143rd Editorial Board. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
