PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The second day of The Stotesbury Cup Regatta was canceled early Saturday after rainstorms brought the Schuylkill River to unsafe levels.
“We kind of knew yesterday because of the conditions that it was a possibility, and looking at the river today, there is no way that I think anybody would feel comfortable about sending out kids in this kind of weather,” said Montclair High School Coach Lorna Rundle.
Storms slammed the Philadelphia region Friday, causing rough waters, flooding and downed trees.
Students like Alex say it affected water conditions.
“There’s a lot of debris coming down, and the flow went up to around I think 16,000, so it would be really unsafe for boats to go out. And yesterday, there were a lot of boats hitting one another,” Alex said.
Despite the cancellation, regatta officials still gave students their well-earned trophies and medals at an awards ceremony.
Freshman Christian Robinson, who won gold, said despite the conditions, they still had a good time.
“It feels really good, but you know, a little bit weird because we didn't get to move on to semis and do the heat racing, but we'll take it,” Robinson said. “We did what we needed to do, and we got it done.
Jenna, a graduating senior who has raced for four years, said she’s bummed about the race being called off, but is glad officials are keeping people safe.
“The boats are so expensive. You don't want to put any holes in them and keep everyone safe, so it's good, but it's definitely sad.”
The Stotesbury, in its 98th year, is the world's largest high school regatta.