W. lightweight crew cruises to national championship in June

"I'm not going to lose this race!" These words came from the lips of the women's lightweight crew coxswain Jennifer Carter with only a few hundred meters remaining in the season, and they rang true as the boat was able to pull out the national championship.

This summer, while most of Princeton was taking a well-deserved break after spring finals, the rowers were still stroking towards their championship goals. Women's open crew competed at the 2002 NCAA Championships, while the lightweight women, lightweight men, and heavweight men raced in the 2002 IRA Championships. Three Princeton rowers also participated at the World Under 23 Regatta in Genoa, Italy.

As June began, the IRAs were winding down, and Tiger boats were vying for titles, as usual. The women's lightweight squad earned its fourth national title with a time of 6:26.64, defeating Wisconsin by 3.43 seconds.

Wisconsin, however, was able to capture the overall team title with 323 points, besting Princeton's 316.

"It wasn't clear that we were going to win," Carter said. "We were never more than a few seats up throughout the race." Winning a fourth national championship seems like an accomplishment that can never be expected, but with a powerhouse boat like the Tigers', no one was surprised.

"You get the sense all year that 'Wow, we are the best in the country,'" Carter said. "The sick torture that crew can be finally felt justified when we finished in front of Wisconsin."

In July, across the Atlantic, three Princeton rowers participated in Genoa at the World Under 23 Regatta, with two taking home medals. Senior John Cranston was on the championship boat which secured the U.S.'s only gold medal. The American boat stroked to a 3.67-second win over Canada with a time of 6:12.05.

Lia Pernell, a senior on the women's open team, took a bronze medal at the Championships as half of the U.S. women's doubles sculls boat.

A third Tiger raced at the World Championships, sophomore Aaron Kroeker, competed in the men's straight pairs for Canada.

"It's great to have any of our athletes representing their country internationally," heavyweight crew assistant coach Greg Hughes, who assisted at the competition, said. "It shows the quality and caliber of athletes we have here. I was most impressed that our athletes had as much or more talent as the rest of the world. It's a testament to the rowing quality at the collegiate level in the United States."

The end of the season collegiate team competitions earlier in the summer concluded without another Princeton national championship, as the other three Tiger teams finished their seasons. Women's open crew's first varsity eight boat ended its season with a fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships. Washington took the title in 6:36.41 to Princeton's 6:44.54. The second varsity eight won the petite final, securing the fifth fastest time, faster than two of the teams in the grand finale — Michigan and Yale. Princeton's varsity four boat finished third in its petite finale.

Back at the IRAs, the men's lightweight eight took third in the grand finale behind Yale and Navy, which finished only .41 seconds apart, with the Bulldogs taking the title. The Tigers finished in 5:42.40.

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The men's heavyweight varsity eight finished in third place at 5:59.04, falling to first-place Northeastern and second-place Dowling.

The freshman eight boat squeezed between Michigan and California in a tight race in their grand finale, while Washington took the win in 5:39.60. The Tigers finished with a time of 5:42.36.

The Varsity Four also qualified for their grand finale, in which the team finished sixth.