Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta returns to South Jersey for second year

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. (CBS) — The 85th Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta is happening in South Jersey this weekend. It is the largest intercollegiate rowing championship in the United States.

For college rowing, the month of May is packed with championships.

"It's the most exciting time of year for us, for all our programs," St. Joseph's University's rowing head coach Mike Irwin said.

On Friday and Saturday, the Cooper River hosts the regatta . Teams arrived throughout the day Thursday and hit the water to practice.

"It's all we think about. This is the one that everyone wants to win. It's our big race," Elmo Van Olm, a rower with La Salle University, said.

The regatta's hosting committee said 70 teams, 1,700 athletes and thousands of spectators will take over Cooper River Park for the event.

"We haven't won it since 1958 in a varsity eight, so it's a big year for us to try and secure that trophy," Ivo Krakic, director of rowing at La Salle University, said.

Despite a little rain, preparations were well underway on Thursday, but the work started well before athletes put their boats in the water on the eve of the event.

Like many teams competing, members of La Salle's men's team said they have been training for months.

"It's a crazy amount of work. We wake up [at] 5 a.m. every day, go to the river and then go to class and then back at the river at night and repeat every day until we race," Van Olm said.

Usually, the race is held on the Schuylkill River, but because of construction, the hosting committee made Pennsauken home, once again, for storied tradition. Last year was the first year the event was held in South Jersey.

Asked if the event is going to happen on the Cooper River moving forward, organizing committee president Kirsten Ledwith Morasco said that decision has not been made yet.

"We do love being here. Cooper has been a wonderful venue," she said. "Camden County has been inviting and supportive of the Jefferson Dad Vail. We make our decision about where we're going to be after we've completed the current regatta, so sometime in June or July."

For Philly-based teams, having the race so close to home is an opportunity not taken for granted.

"For those of us, St. Joe's, Drexel, Temple, La Salle, we see each other every day. There's nowhere else in the country you can find what you have here in Philly," Irwin said.

For the first time in its history, a woman is leading the event.

"I've been doing it I think since I was 5 years old," Ledwith Morasco said.

The Dad Vail is a family tradition for Ledwith Morasco. Her father was also on the organizing committee.

"I'm excited and flattered that they trust me to take this on, to lead this group," she said. "And it's great because half of our athletes are female, so it's nice to have a little change and have a female face about."