Men's, w. crew display ferocity at Head of Charles

George Bernard Shaw once wrote: "When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity." Most crews came to the banks of the Charles River in Boston, Mass. this cold and blustery Sunday looking for sport in the unknown wilds of the season's first race. What they encountered in the spirit of the men's and women's crew teams was a ferocity unmatched by any other predator in the proverbial jungle of competition.

The Tigers took to the water this weekend with a mind to hunt their competition like never before, firmly showing that this race wasn't just sport — it was a statement to prove that, in the words of senior men's heavyweight captain Tyson White, "the guys on the team have a passion for racing. Everyone's going to the wall to get the job done."

The men's heavyweight crew team, regrouping from a string of less-than-successful pursuits last spring, took an impressive third place in the men's championship fours division. Princeton finished behind only the U.S and Canadian national teams, earning an intimidating first place victory over its collegiate competition.

The hunting was just as good for men's heavyweight in the championship eights as it proceeded to ransack its competition more brutally than a lion set loose in Her Majesty's Gentlemen's Hunt Club. The Tigers were able to bring home fifth place, finishing a painfully close one and a half seconds behind Harvard, the only collegiate crew to precede them in the final results. Men's lightweight was also on the prowl, securing fourth place in the lightweight eights and finishing second only to Yale in the collegiate competition.

Although many of the men's rowers were new to the championship scene, there was a sense of group motivation that pervaded the atmosphere this Sunday. White attributed much of this intrinsic confidence to the numerous weeks of intense training his crew has undergone.

"Rowing is something ingrained in our training," White said. "It just comes naturally. It's something we've done over and over, and we're prepared for anything."

The same sort of confidence and poise guided the women's open weight crew, a group composed of a large number of sophomores.

"There's inexperience, but at the same time, everyone is very motivated," sophomore Kate Bertko said. "It's hard not to be confident about people who are driven."

The drive was apparent in the championship eights as women's open weight hunted its competition fiercely, finishing sixth overall and second on a collegiate level.

Even though Princeton's championship fours boat took tenth, senior women's open weight captain Juliana Schmuke was not discouraged.

"We graduated a lot of girls this year. It's more of a building year, but the team has a lot of depth," Schmuke said. "Collectively it's quite good. There was a lot of pressure and we exceeded our own expectations."

With women's lightweight crew also taking a respectable fourth place in lightweight eights, the overall mood for the entire crew is one of expectant enthusiasm.

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"We are pretty psyched at where we are right now," Bertko admitted.

But this powerful start for the Tigers doesn't at all guarantee a Napoleon-esque string of easy victories in the spring. As White stated, "we know where we stand, but it's still a long way to our real season."

The race does, however, advertise some very attractive facets of Princeton's rowing squad, namely its depth and drive.

"The best thing that comes out here was that it was a great team effort," White said. "It shows some of the depth we have. If we want to be the best crew, we have what it takes and we know what we have to do."

Even more encouraging than their stockpile of skill and athleticism was the Tigers' fierce spirit of competition that, if consistent, is sure to lead them to much grander victories than even this prestigious preseason race.

"I was really happy about the race because it was very aggressive," Bertko said. "You can teach technique, but you can't instill aggression. More than anything, it was great to have a ferocious boat!"