Why did Dad Vail choose the Cooper River again for 2024? The regatta’s top organizer explains.

The list of logistics for the Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta, billed as the biggest collegiate rowing regatta in the world, is a long one.

Course conditions, parking, meals, security, medical, toilets, and overall costs have to be considered. And, almost as soon as one regatta is over, decisions need to be made for the next.

Collectively, those factors led the Dad Vail organizing committee to choose to return to the Cooper River in 2024, continuing a break with decades of tradition of holding it on the Schuylkill, according to the committee’s president Jim Hanna. The Dad Vail was held at Cooper River Park in May, the first time the venue had changed since 1953.

Last week, the committee decided to hold it again on the Cooper next year. It will be the 85th anniversary of the regatta.

The prime reason: The Schuylkill National Racecourse has been in need of dredging for several years to make all the racing lanes even. The river in front of Boathouse Row was dredged last year, but that area is not used for racing. The dredge of the river at the racecourse farther upstream is scheduled to start Saturday under management of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The dredges, which were initially scheduled to be done years ago, were delayed by a dispute between the Army Corps and original contractor, who wanted more money to continue after it had already started.

But Hanna explained that other considerations also were taken into account. He said no decisions have been made for future years.

» READ MORE: Dad Vail Regatta organizers are choosing to go back to the Cooper River in 2024

The regatta’s customers are the rowers, the athletic directors, and the coaches, Hanna said. And they all need to be certain the course is uniform. He likened it to players showing up to a basketball game only to find out the floorboards are warped.

“It’s a given that if people come to play basketball, they assume the court is fair,” Hanna said.

“Rowing is big business today,” he said. “The coaches have got to produce gold medals and trophies to take back to their colleges. One thing they don’t want to risk are their reputations. And an unfair racecourse could create unfair advantages.”

The river above the dam had not been dredged since 1999, causing silt to build up, leaving mud or land in front of some of the boathouses where there used to be water. Farther upstream, two lanes along the racecourse are also shallower than others, creating a competitive disadvantage.

A contractor removed about 28,000 cubic yards of sediment from in front of Boathouse Row in 2022, and the spoils were taken to Fort Mifflin.

» READ MORE: Long-delayed dredge of Schuylkill in front of Boathouse Row begins, as sludge gets pumped out in $13M project

But the Schuylkill racecourse still hadn’t been dredged when the Dad Vail organizing committee began deliberating in June where to host the 2024 event, though the dredge was scheduled. However, Hanna said they had to make a firm decision since school fiscal year budgets start July 1. That meant they had to pick a course that was officially ready.

Even after the Schuylkill racecourse is dredged, Hanna said, it has to be surveyed with assurances all the lanes are good. And a new 2,000-meter racecourse has to be installed and marked with buoys anchored to the bottom.

Hanna said organizers love the rowing tradition and setting of the Schuylkill. But committee members had to be 100% certain whatever course they picked was already ready for racing.

“In a leadership position, you can’t be out to win a popularity contest,” Hanna said. “You have to make a decision and live with it. The Schuylkill National Racecourse and Boathouse Row are an epicenter for rowing. The Dad Vail Regatta has been associated with Philadelphia forever. And we love that venue. But we have to look around are our constituencies and try to balance everyone’s interest.”

The Cooper River, which was dredged in 2017, provides a clean course, Hanna said.

Camden County owns Cooper River Park, where the Dad Vail was held in May with 1,500 rowers. County officials said the event brought more than 30,000 visitors “and injected millions of dollars into the local economy.”

Hanna expects 2,000 rowers next year given that word is out on the venue so far in advance.

“The Camden County officials as public servants could not have been more welcoming,” Hanna said. “Seven different times government officials came to me and said, ‘Is there anything else we can do for you?’”

Hanna said the county picked up the cost of emergency medical services, security, portable toilets, and trash collection. They kept the park “absolutely clean and pristine,” he noted. The county hosted a special reception with race officials and mayors from surrounding towns. The 345-acre Cooper River Park runs through Pennsauken, Cherry Hill, Collingswood, and Haddon Township — and borders Camden City.

“They went overboard to make it very attractive and easy for us to make the transition,” Hanna said.

He estimated it cost about one-third of what it would have cost on the Schuylkill.

The Moorestown Rowing Club served as the local organizing committee and provided boat launches for officials and referees, as well as golf carts. And Hanna gave credit to local caterer, Andreotti’s, for managing to feed all the athletes and officials meals without a hitch.

In all, 300 volunteers joined in, with many coming from Philadelphia’s rowing community.

Hanna said the board will decide in June 2024 where to hold the 2025 event. Neither venue has been ruled out, he said.

“We’re in the business of building friendships,” Hanna said, “not burning bridges. We want to treat everyone fairly.”