Men's crew thaws out in time for season's start

As every Princetonian knows, winter in New Jersey this year seemed to drag on, with warm weather refusing to break the snow and ice. But no student group or team anticipated the coming of spring with more passion than Princeton's rowers. The persistent cold meant every athlete was stuck inside, suffering through countless conditioning sessions on ergometer machines as Lake Carnegie slowly melted.

However, one week before spring break the ice finally disappeared, and the crews could hit the water to begin their promising seasons. The men's teams — heavyweight and lightweight varsities — will train hard and struggle to replicate the success Princeton has enjoyed over the last several spring crew seasons.

For the heavyweights, the season begins with a jolt of serious competition as the team travels to California for three races over the weekend. First up is Navy, an early opponent of the Tigers every spring. Next up, Princeton will race against Wisconsin, the No. 1 team in the East last spring and the runner-up at the national championships. Finally, the Tigers will race California-Berkeley, the defending national champion.

While these match-ups at first seem daunting, especially considering Princeton's lack of on-the-water training, head coach Curtis Jordan is optimistic about the trip.

"For the last eight or nine years, we have consistently been one of the top three or four crews in the country," he said. "This is the caliber of opponent we should be racing."

On paper, it seems that Princeton will be crushed by the superior strength and power of Cal and Wisonsin's athletes, but as Jordan said, "It comes down to our intent and purpose in the race, our superior will to win."

Last spring, Princeton's varsity heavyweight squad enjoyed an unexpectedly successful season with a third-place finish in Eastern Sprints, and then a fifth place finish at the National Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. That varsity boat was a young one, including five juniors who will be returning to the boat this spring.

"This year's squad is deeper than last year," Jordan said. "We are stronger at the top end, and deeper in the middle."

However, given the caliber of competition Princeton is likely to face, "a medal at Easterns and a spot in the finals at nationals will make us very happy," Jordan said.

The lightweight varsity, meanwhile, is looking to improve on a sub-par fall season as it hits the water for the first time. The competition was far ahead of the Tigers at both the Head of the Charles and the Princeton Chase, the two major fall races.

"The focus of our winter training has been to put us in a position where we can challenge the top crews in the league," head coach Joe Murtaugh said. "We did not have that speed in the fall."

During Murtaugh's tenure, the varsity lightweights have been accustomed to success, going undefeated in five of the last six regular seasons. Last season, however, saw the Tigers lose races to Navy and Harvard and end with a third place finish at the IRA National Championships. The crew has its work cut out for it in attempting to replicate the program's past successes, which include national championships in 1989, 1994, 1996, and most recently in 1998.

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

However, this season's goals are more shortsighted, simply putting forward the best race possible week-by-week and opponent-by-opponent. Murtaugh predicts the Tigers "will be tested every week this season."

The lightweights will start their season this weekend against the strong programs of Navy and Columbia. Navy defeated Princeton twice last season en route to a second place finish at nationals.

So both the lightweight and heavyweight crews will be looking at the upcoming season with cautious optimism. The heavyweights, with their five returning seniors led by captain John Clancy, will attempt to capitalize on their depth and experience to close the gap between the Tigers and the larger crews at schools like UC-Berkeley and Wisconsin, not to mention traditional Ivy League powerhouses like Brown and Harvard. And the lightweights, with three varsity seniors of their own including senior captain John Mannion, will attempt to turn a rigorous off-season effort into a huge spring turnaround.