Head of the Charles gives crew chance to test early-season form

Crew isn't typically a fan-friendly sport. A hundred-thousand people don't generally turn out to watch a regatta. Parents, friends and sometimes even a few loyal sports nuts will come to see the boats pass by on their way down a course whose finish line is often out of sight.

This weekend is not a typical weekend. And the Head of the Charles is not your everyday regatta.

On Saturday and Sunday, Princeton will enter a number of boats in the Head of the Charles race, the largest regatta in North America and second biggest in the world. Set on the scenic Charles River in Boston, the race attracts top boats and rowers from around the world. Indeed, several countries send their national teams to compete on this windy and tradition-laced three-mile course.

Being that the competition is so plentiful and fierce, it is extremely difficult to place well, let alone win the Charles. The Tigers' crew team will try to face and conquer that challenge as they send the strongest preseason boats that they can muster.

When looking at Princeton's chances in the race this year, the focus has to start with the women's open-weight squad. Last year's boat did the near impossible by winning the race outright, narrowly beating out the Dutch national team for the title. Fortunately for the Tigers, all eight rowers are back again. The only member that was lost to graduation was coxswain Courtney Biesecker '01. The loss, however, is a substantial one both in that Biesecker was one of the best in the nation and the Charles is a very tough course to navigate.

"Our cox was awesome," head coach Lori Dauphiny said. "She will certainly be missed."

Junior Sasha Suda affirmed the coxswain's importance in the race.

"In the Charles, the cox has a really prominent role. They can single-handedly win or lose the race for you depending on their aggressiveness and execution. I think for them, the race is a coxswain's dream."

Stepping into that role this year will be junior Celeste Powell. Though Powell will be under the gun, her teammates have a lot of confidence in her.

"She is a very talented cox," senior Chrissy Lavdovsky said. "And we know she is going to do a great job for us."

If Powell and the rest of the boat can work on the same page this year, Princeton will have a great chance at repeating. Their toughest competition comes again from the Dutch national team, as well as the race's newest entry — the U.S. National team.

The lightweight women are also expecting a strong performance after last year's third place finish. The team has a good mix of veterans and youth, showcasing three seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and a freshman in their starting eight.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"I think we look strong," senior captain Linda Loyd said. "We are ahead of last year's pace, but we still have some technical things to work on."

"This is a big race for us, of course," Loyd said. "We want to gauge what we need to do for the spring. But that can be tough to do in the Charles since it is early in the season and the course is different than most other ones that we race on."

On the men's side, the heavyweight team is simply looking to get out and compete.

"We are excited about going, but it doesn't necessarily mean or predict anything," junior John Cranston said. "It's the first chance to say, 'ok, what do people have?' "

The team is fairly young this year, after losing six of eight rowers in the varsity eight to graduation.

"We lost some big guns from last year," Cranston said. "But we're more balanced this year, and overall, I think we're at about the same level."

The young team is excited about going, some for the first time, some as a return trip.

"It's a pretty cool race," junior Dave Nielson said. "It's big in scale, there are a lot of fans. In that sense, it's as if rowing is a real sport for a day."

The lightweight men are primed for the race in what senior captain Brian Romanzo dubs "the golden age of lightweight rowing." After finishing second to Yale in consecutive years, the squad would love to etch its name into the cup.

"The Charles is great and we want to win it," said Romanzo. "But none of it matters if we don't win Eastern Sprints."

Head coach Joe Murtaugh echoed some of his captain's thoughts. "The race is exciting and competitive. It won't be a tell-tale sign of the spring, but it's nice to compare yourself early. And right now, we look pretty good. We have a lot of depth and that pushes us to constantly improve."

While each team has its own goals, there are certain feelings in common throughout the boathouse about the Head of the Charles.

"It's a fun race and there is a lot of tradition that goes along with it," Nielson said. "Places like Weeks Bridge and Powerhouse Stretch are famous throughout the crew world. It's an exciting place to row."

"We're pumped," Loyd added. "It's the biggest fall race and it's truly an honor to go out and represent our school."