Howard Announces Date for Battle at the Burr IV, the Dual Meet That Launched a Movement

Howard University has announced October 4th for the 4th edition of the Battle at the Burr against cross-town rivals Georgetown.

The meet has become an iconic part of the annual collegiate swimming schedule and launched a revolution of electrifying collegiate swimming dual meets and unlocking the spectator potential of a well-formed sporting event.

The first edition in 2022 sold out 2,000 tickets, including auxiliary seating in an adjacent basketball gym, complete with two DJs (one poolside, one in the gym), enormous TV screens, and special-guest commentary.

The brainchild of head swimming coach Nic Askew (who is also the school’s tennis coach), VIP tickets to the ‘party with a purpose’ go for $200, and even for a collegiate dual meet, nobody has balked at the price.

In 2016, Howard became the last remaining HBCU school with a swim program after North Carolina A&T disbanded its team.

The meet annually pits the Bison against another successful D.C.-area team from Georgetown University.

All three editions of the meet have been extremely competitive on the men’s side, somewhat of a rarity in college swimming, adding to the lore of the event. Georgetown has swept the men’s and women’s meets so far, but in the first edition, the men’s meet was decided by a mere 2 points.

Battle at the Burr Winners

Both schools graduated star performers on the men’s side (Big East 500 free champion Jack Januario for Georgetown, NEC 50 free and 100 breast runner-up Darin Johnson for Howard), and both teams bring in good recruiting classes next season (on paper, Georgetown’s might be a little better).

11 Howard swimmers recently competed at the Bahamas National Swimming Championships.

Tickets for the 2025 edition of the meet are not yet on sale.