As the 2004 regular season winds down, the men's and women's crew programs will hope to take the next couple of weekends by storm, finishing strong in what has been a very successful year thus far. With strong rowing, the teams hope to make yet another trip to nationals and continue the tradition of Princeton rowing excellence.
The women's open weight team, which is currently dominating the Ivy League with a staggering 5-0 record, will host Penn, Dartmouth and Virginia this weekend. Coming off a spectacular win over Yale last weekend, in which the Princeton course record was broken, the team has a lot of confidence in its ability to go far in Easterns.
"We're pleased with the team's progress and results at this point in the season. We've successfully tackled some really challenging races," head coach Lori Dauphiny said.
That being said, the team cannot look so far into the future that it glances past this week's competition. Virginia, another rowing powerhouse, will be looking to succeed this weekend as well.
Depth being one of Princeton's strongest qualities, the Tigers will be looking for strong performances from rowers from all classes in order to emerge victorious against the threatening opposition this weekend.
"We have a fairly young team this year, and our freshman class has shown great promise," Dauphiny said. "They're tough competitors."
Yet the open weight program is not the only crew team that can stake this claim, as the lightweight squad also has strong marks.
The lightweight team, the defending Eastern champs, will travel to Cambridge this weekend to race Radcliffe. The Crimson, whom the Tigers have beaten each of the last four years in the championship race to win the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Championship, will pose a tough challenge to the accomplished Princeton team, and nothing but the Tigers' fastest times will shake Radcliffe from their tails.
After the races this weekend, the team will have a short break before heading into Easterns in May, where it hopes to defend its title and move on to the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in Camden. Though it will be a busy weekend for women's crew, the men's programs too have a full schedule ahead of them as they prepare for the postseason.
The heavyweight team will travel to Yale to take on the Bulldogs and Cornell. Though hopes are high for this weekend, the Tigers, after suffering a close loss to Harvard last weekend, know that if they want to win they will have to row as hard as they ever have.
The same motto holds true for the lightweight team, which, though they are the defending Ivy Eastern champions, has struggled to stay afloat this season.
"The varsity has struggled so far this season," head coach Joe Murtaugh said. "I didn't prepare them to compete in our opening races, and the league is strong enough that we won't get away with anything but our stop speed.
"We know we're going to have to make those steps to win this weekend, but I have confidence in the team and our ability to move forward."
The team will take on rivals Penn and Georgetown this weekend in an attempt to salvage what is left of the season as the postseason advances. The rowers certainly have the talent and work ethic to earn a spot among the most elite teams, and if they take advantage of it, this weekend will offer them the opportunity to prove that.
Each of the Princeton rowing teams is approaching this weekend with optimism, whether it has a chance to clinch the No. 1 seed or to claim its first victory of the season. With Easterns looming it is 'go' time, and the rowers realize that it is now or never to make their mark on the 2004 season.
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