The Fairfield University men's rowing team enjoyed a solid fall season that sent the team to several of the top regional meets, including the prestigious Head of the Charles. Some of that success can be traced back to the new additions to the Stags rowing roster.

                “The main success of the season to date has been the sheer volume of interest that has developed on campus to be part of the team,” Head Coach David Patterson said. “For the first time, the men's team was awarded varsity status, we have more rowers that non-freshmen on the team compared to freshmen. The big stumbling block for the early years of the program has been retention of sophomores or lack thereof. Whether recruited or walk-ons, our freshman crews have been able to enjoy comparative success but often the challenge of varsity competition has been too great or challenging for many to commit for more than one year. However, our incredibly successful freshman class from last year has remained almost intact and has returned to take on the formidable challenge of varsity rowing which has brought welcome challenges to our three juniors and one senior competing this fall.”

                The men's team opened their racing account at the Head of the Housatonic in Shelton. The Stags had entries in the varsity eight, the novice eight, and the varsity four. The freshman novice crew placed 11^th of 12 competing crews.  The varsity eight also struggled by placing 10^th of 12 crews. The Stags were 73 seconds behind Wesleyan, and a cross comparison with the strong IRA collegiate eight race, where they aspires to race, showed the crew a full two minutes behind the winning time posted by Yale. The Stags varsity four also struggled by finishing 15^th of the non-IRA collegiate four competitors.

                “In head style races, anything above 10 seconds is regarded as a comfortable time margin and it is clear we need to work much harder and to greater effect to stop the time differences being a matter of minutes,” Patterson said.

                The next racing opportunity came at the annual Head of the Charles. The men earned an automatic qualifier from last year's crew and competed in the club fours event. This year, the Stags placed 42^nd in a time of 18:55 with the winning time posted by Union Boat Club at 16:49. The Stags must enter the lottery for a chance to compete at next year's event.

                The final race of the season was held on Orchard Beach Lagoon and raced in rough conditions, just a day before Hurricane Sandy hit the coastline. All races went off safely, but the conditions were unpleasant.

                “This was a first opportunity to show our speed comparatively to historically the most dominant team in the conference, Marist, as well as other New York City regional schools like Fordham, Iona, Manhattan, and Hofstra,” Coach Patterson said.

                In the varsity eight race, Marist won the race comfortably over Iona and Fordham with Fairfield 25 seconds off the winning time. In the varsity four races, the A race was won by Iona, followed by Fordham and Marist with Fairfield and Hofstra next in line. In a composite B & C heat, Fordham C won with Iona B two seconds back and Fairfield B just a half-second further back in third place ahead of Marist B and Iona C.

                                In the men's novice eight race, Fordham crossed the line followed by Marist and Iona. Fairfield took fourth place despite the crew being comprised of walk-ons with no experience going against many recruited rowers in the other boats. In the men's novice four event, Fairfield enlisted a mixed boat with two experienced recruits and two walk-ons. The crew finished a credible third behind Fordham and Marist, ahead of Iona A, Hofstra, and Iona B.

                “With more training time on land and more time out on the water in the spring, there are some fine athletes in the freshman class who will make their move and show more competitiveness as the year progresses,” Coach Patterson said.

                The Dowling Cup Regatta was the final event of the fall season but it was cancelled when Hurricane Sandy slammed into the coastline.

                All in all the men's team had a productive and informative fall season,” Coach Patterson said. “Our strengths have been the increase in numbers on the squad and a collective desire to elevate the program to contend for the MAAC title. However we have yet to show that we are able to close the gap on those that finished above us in conference last year. Marist proved once again they are strong. There is no reason to assume Jacksonville will be taking any steps back. Iona has shown that they have moved on too, beating Marist and Fordham in the varsity four race at the Fall Metropolitan Regatta, for the first time in many, many years. The coaches will be sitting down to assess the season, find out where mistakes were made and how to make better use of the talented athletes at our disposal to make sure Fairfield also continues to grow in size and competitive stature. However the athletes will also have to take a good look in the mirror. In a real sense they will see reflected back, in many cases, tall, powerful athletes. The big transition required is to have as a reflection one type and a unified type for everyone. That reflection needs to be "racer". The challenge for everyone is to do what it takes to find more speed beyond what individually we think we are capable of and certainly beyond what we have collectively found to date.”