On May 24, 1843, with the arrival of the shell Whitehall in New Haven, Yale University founded the first collegiate crew in the United States [REF].
Originally the race was just between the varsity crews but there are now three events: the 2-mile (3.2-km) freshman race, the 3-mile (4.8-km) junior varsity race, and the 4-mile (6.4-km) varsity race [REF].