The club crew team participated Saturday in the Milwaukee River Challenge, an annual crew regatta on the Milwaukee River.
Marquette raced two boats of four members and one boat of eight in the men's division as well as two boats of eight women.
The men's A4, one of the two boats of four men each, placed second out of 14 boats with a time of 22:29.56. The men's B4 took 12th and the men's eight took ninth place.
The women's 8A placed ninth and the 8B placed 12th.
"I'm very happy with the early success of the men's 4 with the small amount of preparation we've had since school began," coach Jim Peters said. "Our team has a long way to go and we are excited to begin the fall racing season."
The Milwaukee River Challenge is a unique regatta because it stands as the only "head start" race in which the Marquette team participates.
Matthew Roozen, who rows for the men's 8 boat, explained the challenge of the race.
"The head race is frustrating because it is one of the only races where you race one (boat) at a time and also have to stop and spin the boat, after waiting for everyone else to finish and complete the last leg," he said. "Also, there are points on the river which are no passing zones, which have the potential to slow your time due to a slacking opponent."
The rowers raced from the junction of the Menomonee and Milwaukee Rivers (at approximately East Chicago Avenue and North Water Streets) to the Milwaukee Rowing Club Boat House (off of North Commerce Street) and then back down the 2.2 mile stretch.
The race grows more challenging along the route because the rowers must complete one leg of the race, wait for everyone else in the heat to finish, and then row the final leg.
The boats must go one at a time because the Milwaukee River is too narrow to fit more than one boat through at once. Not only must the rowers recover from their first leg quickly enough to complete the second, but they are also forced to race against time, not other boats.
As Roozen relayed, the men encountered two opponents who were members of Team USA and had won gold medals in Athens. Chris Ahrens, one of the gold medalists, hails from Milwaukee, where he grew up racing for his father's Milwaukee Rowing Club.
The attraction of Olympic gold medalists drew a substantial crowd along the stretch of the river. The bulk of the audience, however, gathered at Pere Marquette Park.
The next regatta the Marquette team will participate is Oct. 10 in Rockford, Ill., on the Rock River. The "Head of the Rock" is one of the largest regattas of the year.