Women's crew teams to grapple with familiar foes at Eastern Sprints

The women's lightweight and openweight crew teams head to the most prestigious meet of their seasons this weekend at Lake Quinsigamond near Worcester, Mass. Though the site and stakes are different from what either team has seen this year, the most dangerous opponents are just the same.

The No. 1 lightweight team will meet rival Wisconsin for the third time this year. The teams split their first two meetings, but the Tigers' victory in the most recent matchup at Mercer County Park made them the favorites this weekend.

Last year, the Tigers took the championship by edging the Badgers by a scant 1.1 seconds. The races have been just as exciting this year. Wisconsin had the upper hand at the San Diego Crew Classic on April 7, dropping the defending national champions by a second. At the Princeton World Cup two weeks ago, the Tigers dropped the Badgers by two seconds.

That means that in their last three races, Princeton has beaten Wisconsin by a net total of two seconds. Each of those races was 2000 meters long, making a total of 6000 meters in those last three races. That makes a one-second gap per 3000 meters, or one second for every two miles. Princeton and Wisconsin will struggle for stroke after stroke after stroke Sunday afternoon, but the race will be decided by the blink of an eye.

To get some idea of the chokehold these two teams have placed on women's lightweight competition, one need no farther than the novice division. Wisconsin grabbed a small measure of revenge on the Tigers last year at that level, holding the Tigers off to win by five seconds. Georgetown finished third, almost 30 seconds behind Princeton. For all intents and purposes, there was Princeton, there was Wisconsin, and there was no third.

Another perennial nemesis awaits the openweight eight, but the series is not quite so well balanced. Brown has owned the women's openweight polls for the last few years. Last year, Princeton finished third at the EAWRC Sprints, just two seconds behind second-place Radcliffe – but nine seconds behind Brown.

The gap is closing, however. Though Brown is No. 1 in the country this year, the Tigers have moved into the No. 2 spot. In the season's first race for either team, the Tigers held close to the Bears throughout the race, but eventually fell by just three seconds.

Since then, Princeton has been on a roll, smashing all of its opponents except for Yale, which is currently ranked No. 4 by the EAWRC.

Virginia and Boston University will be Princeton's leading competition in their preliminary heat. The top two teams from each of the preliminary heats will advance to the final, however, so long as the Tigers beat one of those two teams, they will be in place to take on Brown.

The second openweight eight will be trying to improve upon its second place finish in last year's race — Brown finished first, almost ten seconds ahead of the Tigers. Princeton has pulled closer to the Bears in the first boat but has dropped back in the second boat. The Tigers are ranked fourth going into this weekend, behind Yale, Radcliffe and, of course, No. 1 Brown.