Rowing closes fall season at Princeton Chase

The fall season for the men’s and women’s heavyweight and lightweight rowing teams came to a victorious close as the Tigers hosted the annual Princeton Chase at Lake Carnegie. Competing against some of the nation’s top teams, the Princeton boats impressed in all weight classes.

The men’s heavyweight eight was extremely impressive as they placed three boats in the top seven, including the winning boat. With a raw time of 12:57.261, the Princeton varsity eight was five seconds faster than the runners-up Yale A. The Princeton B boat came in fifth with a time of 13:13.279 and the Princeton C boat came in two spots behind with a time of 13:18.516, placing above many of the other schools’ A boats, including great teams such as California, Dartmouth, Navy and Wisconsin. The B and C boats were the best of their class, with the second best B boat of Boston University coming in 12th and the second best C boat of Wisconsin coming in 21st.

The men’s varsity lightweight eight also impressed, finishing second to only Cornell with a time of 13:39.419, only one-and-a-half seconds behind Cornell. Once again, the second varsity boat for the Tigers was better than the rest of the competition as the Princeton B boat finished in sixth place and beat out Harvard, Delaware and Dartmouth’s A boats. The Princeton C boat also impressed, coming in 16th place, and were only behind Yale’s C boat.

The varsity men’s heavyweight four boats were also extremely impressive, with the Princeton A boat finishing in third behind Boston University and Cornell with a time of 15:03.740 and the B and C boats finishing only a few seconds behind, with the B boat finishing in fifth with a time of 15:07.429 and the C boat only one second and one place behind with a time of 15:08.676.

The open women’s varsity eight also impressed in the races, as the Princeton A boat finished in fourth place with a time of 14:54.281, 15 seconds behind winners Virginia. The Tigers’ open B boat finished in 15th and the C boat finished in 26th, one place above the Tigers’ lightweight A Boat. The lightweight team, which competed in the open field, earned the the best result among the lightweight teams, beating Boston University’s lightweight boat by an impressive eight seconds, which was a 22-second swing from the last time the two teams faced off at the Head of the Charles, where Boston University’s boat defeated the Tigers’ lightweight boat by 14 seconds.

The two women’s varsity four boats even more impressive than their eight counterparts, as they took a 1-2 finish. However, the B boat finished in front of the A boat, and in dominant fashion as well. The Princeton B boat claimed first place with an immensely impressive time of 16:46.217, which was a full 26 seconds ahead of second place and the Tigers’ A boat, which finished with a time of 17:12.024, still a full four seconds ahead of third-place finishers Boston College. The Tigers’ C and D boats also had a reversed finish, as the D boat finished in sixth, six seconds ahead of the C boat, which finished in seventh.

With impressive performances all around, the Tigers will hope to build on these performances as they prepare for the spring season, which will begin in late March for both the men’s heavyweight and lightweight teams and early April for the women’s teams.