Temple's rowers quietly going about winning at Dad Vail

A mile and a half down river from the starting line at the 73d Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, the members of the Temple men's varsity heavyweight eight crew are in their sanctuary - the circular front room on the second floor of the stately Vesper Boat Club along the Schuylkill.

They are swapping stories and sharing laughs, trying to work out the nerves before they shove off and row up river about 4,500 meters toward the starting line for the qualifying heat that will begin at 10:25 a.m.

"It's really good to have some time when it's quiet and there's no one you know trying to talk to you," Scott Waters, the Owls senior bowman, said Friday. Waters is quite familiar with the Schuylkill. He rowed for four years at La Salle High School, so this is his eighth year on the river.

"It's just you and your guys and that really goes a long way, especially as the races become more important," he said.

The race is definitely important. After winning 13 consecutive heavyweight eight gold medals at Dad Vail from 1989-2001, Temple hasn't won the regatta's glamour event since 2004. Gavin White, who is in his 33d season as the Owls head coach, believes this crew has the best chance since 2004. Temple is seeded fourth. Top-seeded Michigan, Florida Institute of Technology, and Williams appear to be their main obstacles.

Rather than have his rowers prepare amid the hustle and bustle occurring along the river's banks, White prefers to sequester them at Vesper, where they began gathering at 9 a.m. Otherwise, Temple would have launched from the Canoe Club, which doesn't offer the solace or the opportunity to get in a long row that Vesper does.

"It's to get away from the madness," White explained. "It was confirmed this morning because an official stopped by the Canoe Club and told Temple we wouldn't be allowed to go up the river, that we had to go right to the starting line. So you get to row a half mile and turn around and race. You really don't get to warm up. That's just not acceptable.

"This way we can row three miles up, leave when we want, and be properly prepared. The only problem with being down here is you're a little out of touch with what's going on up there. But we have cell phones now. Also, if the weather gets bad, we have a roof over our heads. We've been coming to Vesper for about 15 years."