Women's lightweight team travels to San Diego for Crew Classic

The women's lightweight crew team does not lose very often. Maybe once or twice a season — rarely when it really matters. Most years, including the last two, the Tigers win the national championship, which is what makes the San Diego Crew Classic so memorable for the Tigers. One year and a few days ago, it looked as though Princeton was going to lose a race.

With five hundred meters to go in the grand final in San Diego, Wisconsin had a solid lead on the Tigers, and it did not seem like that was going to change. Princeton, the defending national champion, was in big trouble. Wisconsin was fast and hungry, and six seats closer to the finish line. But then fate intervened. As if to confirm the suspicions of those who think God was a Tiger, the Wisconsin crew suddenly caught a devastating crab — trapping their oar underwater and slowing the boat to a standstill — allowing the opportunistic Princeton crew to cruise ahead and win the race by fifteen seconds.

A few weeks later, on Lake Carnegie, the Tigers had a rematch with the Badgers, and this time Princeton was not so fortunate. Of course, in the Intercol-legiate Rowing Association national championship last June, the Tigers got revenge with a win, but that is besides the point. For Princeton, when a team almost beats it, and then does beat it the next week, that is just not acceptable.

"We definitely realize that Wisconsin will be out to beat us all season," junior stroke Linda Loyd said. "And we will do everything possible to prevent that."

Some people might think that for those few weeks in April last year, the Badgers were a better crew and that the Tigers got lucky in San Diego. That this year, without the interference of crabs or any other crustaceans, the Badgers will hold on to their lead. That the lightweight crown is going to change hands at the IRAs in June.

Of course, not many people will be having those thoughts, not if they have been following women's lightweight crew, and definitely not if they saw Princeton is fend off the competition, including Wisconsin, at the Knecht Cup in Camden last weekend. But some, including eight Badgers, will still have those thoughts, and the Tigers are set on silencing them. This weekend's race in San Diego is a good place to start quieting the opposition.

According to Loyd, things are looking good: "The team is well prepared for this weekend's competition. We have taken full advantage of our hard practices throughout the winter and have made a lot of technical improvements since the fall. And last weekend was a huge confidence booster for us."

Head coach Heather Smith confirms Loyd's optimism: "I feel better going into the Crew Classic than I did going into last weekend's race in Camden. Usually the Crew Classic is our first race of the season. From what I saw last weekend, this team is ready to race."

So, you can be sure, is Wisconsin. And all of the other crews that will be at San Diego, itching to claim some early season Tiger scalp. Last year, the Tigers looked vulnerable in San Diego. Now is their chance to prove that the vulnerability, not the crab, was the fluke.