It is hard to date the first ever crew race, but this weekend the men's heavyweight teams will be racing in the 125th competition for the Childs Cup, the oldest existing collegiate rowing trophy in the U.S.
The first Childs Cup race was held in 1879. Princeton has won the race for the past 10 years. This season's contest will take place Saturday at Orchard Beach in Pelham, N.Y.
There is no place for cockiness in their approach to this race, however, as the opposing teams always put up a fight.
Head coach Curtis Jordan said that the team needs to be wary of complacence: "Even though Princeton has won this trophy every year since 1994 it has always been one of the toughest and closely fought races of the year," he said. "We expect no less this coming weekend."
Since the season began, the Tigers have won against Navy, Yale and Rutgers and have been outraced only by California at the Windermere Collegiate Crew Classic held in California. This weekend matches them up against two new opponents.
Penn has always come out with a strong team, though the Quakers' performance at the same Windermere Classic did not yield very promising results. Penn lost to Stanford, California and Navy during that competition.
The Quaker freshman boat raced exceptionally well, though, during the Classic and should provide some strong competition for Princeton's novice eight.
Columbia has had a weaker team in the past and will probably prove to be less of a challenge to the Tigers than Penn.
The No. 3 women's open team comes off a weekend of slack competition to face two of the best teams in their league. Princeton easily defeated Rutgers and Columbia at home last weekend, coming in 20 seconds ahead of its closest competition.
The Tigers are looking forward to a tough challenge this weekend as they travel to Ithaca for their first away race to compete against No. 13 Cornell and No. 5 Harvard, referred to as Radcliffe.
The match-up between the two powerhouses, Radcliffe and Princeton, could have implications for what is to come later in the season.
The Crimson open women are the defending NCAA National Champions, but, like the Tigers, it has already lost this season.
If the numbers have anything to say, Princeton should have an edge in this weekend's race. Last weekend, Radcliffe raced against Brown and lost by one second, while the Tigers beat that same boat two weeks before by two seconds.
Like Columbia, Cornell will probably represent less of a challenge to Princeton, but as usual there is no counting anyone out.
"We are expecting a fierce race. Harvard is the defending National Champion, and Cornell has had good results this season," head coach Lori Dauphiny said.
The lightweight women also have an important weekend ahead of them as they head to the Knecht Cup in Camden. The weekend event attracts teams from over 50 schools across the nation.
The Tigers are very confident, coming off of three wins at the Windermere Classic to open the spring season. Princeton has the additional advantage of being very familiar with the course — it is the course that the annual league and sprint championships are held every year.
Men's lightweights will not see any action on the race course but plenty in the weight room.
Head coach Joe Murtaugh reflected jovially on their upcoming weekend. "Men's lightweight crew is off this weekend. I feel good about our chances."
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