Stotesbury Cup Regatta races canceled Saturday due to high waters on Schuylkill River in Philadelphia
Races for the 98th annual Stotesbury Cup Regatta in Philadelphia have been canceled Saturday due to high waters on the Schuylkill River following Friday's heavy rain and storms, officials tell CBS News Philadelphia.
"It is very regrettable," Mike Murphy, Chief of the Stotesbury Regatta, said. "We are safety first ... and we have a great group of coaches that we met with and came to the decision that it is unrowable."
A says rowing is prohibited when flow exceeds 18,000 cubic feet per second. The river flow , according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Novices are urged not to row when the flow exceeds 8,000 cubic feet per second.
While unfortunate for the rowers and coaches, St. Joe's Prep coach John Fife said the call was the right move. He told CBS News Philadelphia's Ross DiMattei the conditions of the river are unlike anything he's seen, and he's been active on the Schuylkill since the 1990s.
"This was the right call. it's unsafe to be out there," Fife said.
This move affects over 4,000 athletes, some from as far away as Canada who made the trek to Philadelphia to compete.
The rainy weather and high river conditions canceled practice on Thursday as well.
"The river is flowing high, and it is flowing very, very fast. And that is the safety issue, the flow - it is not safe for any water craft to be on the river today. The officials had to make the very heartbreaking call to call off racing for today," said Margaret Meigs, director of public engagement for the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia.
Awards are being given based on teams' performance in Friday's time trials, Meigs said.
"There will be Stotesbury champions crowned today, there just will not be further racing today as planned," Meigs said.
This story has been updated with accurate numbers on the flow rate of the Schuylkill River and when conditions become unsafe.
