Navy Midshipmen
The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 36 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams. Both men's and women's teams are called Navy Midshipmen or Mids. They participate in the NCAA's Division I, as a non-football member of the Patriot League, a football-only member of the American Athletic Conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and a member of the Collegiate Sprint Football League, Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges, Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges, Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League, Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference and Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association. Navy is also one of approximately 300 members of the Eastern College Athletic Conference.
The most important sporting event at the academy is the annual Army–Navy Game. The 2014 season marked Navy's 13th consecutive victory over Army. The three major service academies compete for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, which is awarded to the academy that defeats the others in football that year.
Participation in athletics is, in general, mandatory at the Naval Academy and most Midshipmen not on an intercollegiate team must participate actively in intramural or club sports. There are exceptions for non-athletic Brigade Support Activities such as YP Squadron or the Drum and Bugle Corps.
Varsity-letter winners wear a specially-issued blue cardigan with a large gold "N" patch affixed. If they belong to a team that beats Army in any sport designated "Star" competition, they are also awarded a gold star to affix near the "N" for each such victory.
Teams
The United States Naval Academy sponsors varsity teams in seventeen men's, ten women's, and three coed NCAA-sanctioned sports:- – The gymnastics team competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League.
- – The water polo team competes in the Collegiate Water Polo Association.
- – The wrestling team competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association.
- – Sprint football is sanctioned by the Collegiate Sprint Football League, not by the NCAA.
- – Men's heavyweight rowing is sanctioned by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association; men's lightweight rowing is sanctioned by the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges; neither is sanctioned by the NCAA.
- – Squash is sanctioned by the College Squash Association, not by the NCAA.
- – Intercollegiate sailing is sanctioned by the Intercollegiate Sailing Association; offshore sailing is sanctioned by various organizations; neither is sanctioned by the NCAA.
- – Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other; Navy has a coed team that competes in the Great America Rifle Conference.
- – The football team is a single-sport member of the American Athletic Conference.
- USNA Men's Rugby – The rugby team competes in the Rugby East Conference.
Men's varsity sports
Baseball
Basketball
The men's basketball team has appeared in the NCAA tournament 11 times and made regional finals in 1954 and 1986.- 1986: Elite Eight, NCAA Tournament
Navy was retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA Tournament national champion for the 1912–13 and 1918–19 seasons by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll and for the 1912–13 season by the Helms Athletic Foundation.
Crew
The heavyweight crew won Olympic gold medals in men's eights in 1920 and 1952, and from 1907 to 1995 at Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta the team earned 30 championships, was runner-up 29 times, and had 31 third-place finishes.The lightweight crew won the 2004 and 2021 National Championship and has finished second three times, the most recent being 2010. The lightweights are accredited with two Jope Cup Championships as well, finishing the Eastern Sprints with the highest number of points in 2006 and 2007.
Fencing
The men's fencing team won three NCAA Division I championships and was runner-up four times.;NCAA Fencing Team Championship - Division I
- 1948: National Runner-up
- 1950: National Champion
- 1953: National Runner-up
- 1959: National Champion
- 1960: National Runner-up
- 1962: National Champion
- 1963: National Runner-up
Football
The Naval Academy's football program is one of the nation's oldest, with its history dating back to 1879. There were two separate efforts to establish a Naval Academy football team in 1879. The first was guided by first-classman J.H. Robinson, who developed it as a training regiment to help keep the school's baseball team in shape. The team played the sport under rules that made it much closer to soccer, where the players were permitted only to kick the ball in order to advance it. The second effort, headed by first-classman William John Maxwell was more successful in its efforts. Maxwell met with two of his friends, Tunstall Smith and Henry Woods, who played for the Baltimore Athletic Club and officially challenged their team to a game with the Naval Academy. A team was formed from academy first-classmen, which Maxwell led as a manager, trainer, and captain. The team would wake up and practice before reveille and following drill and meals. The squad received encouragement from some of the faculty, who allowed them to eat a late dinner and skip final drill for additional practicing. This was against the direct orders of the school superintendent, who had banned football and similar activities.- 1926: '''National Champion'''
Lacrosse
- 1975: National Runner-up
- 2004: National Runner-up
Rugby
- 1994: Runner-up
- 2023: National Champion
- 2024: Runner-up
Navy's rugby program is one of the most successful college rugby programs in the country. Navy's best season was 2023, when Navy beat Cal 28-22 for the D1A Elite National Championship.
Since the inception of the national collegiate championship in 1980, Navy men's rugby reached the national semifinals twice in the 1980s and reached the semifinals 7 times during the 12-year span from 1996-2007. More recently, in the 2010-11 season Navy reached the national quarterfinals and finished the season ranked 9th in the country. Navy finished the 2012-13 season first in the Atlantic Coast Rugby League, and ranked 11th in the country.
Navy has been successful in rugby sevens. Navy plays each year in the Collegiate Rugby Championship, reaching the quarterfinals in 2010 and again in 2012. Navy also played in the 2012 USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships, advancing to the quarterfinals and finishing with a 4-2 record, including a win over rival Air Force. Navy completed their first undefeated season and won their first national championship by defeating California 28–22 in the 2023 Division 1-A Rugby Championship.
Soccer
;NCAA Men's Soccer Championship - Division I- 1963: National Runner-up
- 1964: National Champion
- 1932: '''National Champion'''
Sprint football
- 2014 CSFL National Champion
- 2018 CSFL National Champion
- 2021 CSFL National Champion
- 2022 CSFL National Champion
Squash
Swimming and diving
2010 – seventh straight Patriot League title and second consecutive Eastern College Athletic Conference championship. Will Norton was named ECAC Co-Swimmer of the Year. Head coach Bill Roberts was named ECAC Coach of the Year.2011 – Navy Men moved into the top 25 in NCAA Division I polling. The 2010-11 team handed Princeton its first ever loss in Denunzio Pool at Princeton, 167-133. The team also won its eighth straight Patriot League title and third straight ECAC title.
Track and field
;NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship- 1945: '''National Champion'''
Wrestling
Other sports
Women's varsity sports
Basketball
The head coach of the Navy team is Tim Taylor. His predecessor Stefanie Pemper is the winningest coach in program history with a 214–164 record from 2008 to 2020.Crew
Cross country
Lacrosse
The women's lacrosse team was U.S. Lacrosse WDIA national runner-up in 2001 and 2007.;US Lacrosse Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates Championship
- 2001: National runner-up
- 2007: National runner-up
Rugby