While the 40th running of the Head of the Charles Regatta last week in Boston and Cambridge might not have stolen the headlines away from the Red Sox, one of rowing's most prestigious events still generated good news for the men's and women's crew teams.
The Tigers, in town to flex their collective muscle against some of the world's most powerful teams, came away with solid performances from all 10 of their team boats. Led by the men's and women's championship eights, which came in third and second, respectively, in their races and were the top collegiate teams, the Tigers never finished worse than fifth among collegiate teams in an event.
For the women's open eight (12:08.312), placing second in the championship event was a great season preview for a team hoping to defend its 2004 Ivy League title and looking to improve on its sixth-place finish in last year's NCAA Championships. Falling only to the Dutch National Team on the Charles River, the women were the top collegiate team in the race, ahead of third-place Yale and fifth-place Virginia.
The women's lightweight eight (13:12.751) also finished second in its event, falling to Riverside Boat Club. The team was by far the best among collegiate lightweight eights, placing over 53 seconds ahead of 10th-place Stanford. After having its streak of six consecutive national titles broken last season, the team is looking to get back to its championship form.
The women's lightweight four (14:51.745) finished fifth in its race but was third among collegiate teams to top-finisher Radcliffe and Brock University. The open four finished eighth overall and fifth among college teams.
The heavyweight men's eight (10:57.885) was also the top college team in its championship race, coming in third behind Cambridge and the Dutch Rowing Federation. After two consecutive seasons without an Ivy title, the men's team is also looking to get back on track. Its nearest college rivals were fourth-place California and seventh-place Yale. The Tigers beat California by just over three seconds and Yale by over 15 seconds.
The lightweight men's eight (11:26.814) finished fourth in its race and was second among collegiate teams, finishing only 8.506 seconds behind the Naval Academy. Two years after its last Ivy League title, the lightweight eight finished ahead of its league rivals. Yale finished two spots back of the lightweight men, about a second off their pace.
The heavyweight men's four (12:37.729) finished sixth overall and third among collegiate teams.
The Tigers also came away from the Head of the Charles with strong performances from their freshmen teams, racing in the Youth Division. The men's four (12:50.319) won its race, edging out second-place Yale. The men's eight finished (11:42.488) in fourth, falling to the Charles River Rowing Association, California and Penn.
The freshmen women were led by their four (14:34.865) which cruised to victory by nearly eight seconds over second-place Ottawa Rowing Club.
Although the Tigers came away pleased with their performances in nearly every class of racing last week, success in the fall does not automatically dictate success when league races start in the spring. Nonetheless, the Tigers took the Head of the Charles as an opportunity to demonstrate their overall strength and came away looking primed to take home a boatload of medals come springtime.
In the meantime, both the men's and women's teams can still take satisfaction in solidifying their places at the top of the list of contenders.
The teams' next race is the Princeton Chase, at home on Lake Carnegie on Nov. 7.
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