The Basics
The Drake rowing team is traveling to Iowa City, IA for a scrimmage against the in-state opponent Iowa Hawkeyes. The races will commence on Saturday, Oct. 7, beginning at 8 a.m. in the Iowa River.
 
Coach Charlie DiSilvestro on the Scrimmage
"We're really happy to compete and we appreciate the University of Iowa for inviting us to their scrimmage," Coach DiSilvestro said. "We've been training hard and we've made some good improvements, especially at the Head of the Des Moines. We are excited to race against a really good team and show off our hard work."
 
Scouting the Competition
Iowa is hosting Drake for their kickoff to the 2023-24 season. In their 2022-23 campaign, the Hawkeyes finished fifth in the Big 10 Championship. They finished behind Rutgers, Ohio State, Indiana and Michigan, who were all ranked in the top 20. The Hawkeyes tallied 17 victories in their 2022-23 season and had three Hawkeyes selected to the All-Big Ten Teams. Emma Dabinett was selected to the first team, Kassandra McWhorter was selected to the second team and Sydney Brands was named a Sportsmanship Award Honoree. Dabinett was the only Hawkeye of three awardees who returned to Iowa.

The Head of the Des Moines Recap
The Bulldogs showed off their hard work at The Head of the Des Moines where they broke a school record. Lily Evan-Cook and Sara Wilson set a 19:57.664 time mark in The Head of the Des Moines, which bested the 20:06 school record from 2013. Caitlyn Figge and Kiernan Blanchard also broke the record from 2013, setting a 19:58.798 mark.
 
History Versus Iowa
The last time Drake competed at Iowa was in 2021 at the Iowa Regatta on Lake McBride. Iowa bested Drake in every race.