Heavies beat Navy to open season

"Any time you're going up against the Naval Academy, you're really happy just to win anything," men's heavyweight head coach Curtis Jordan said. "They have a great program, and they're really deep."

If Jordan truly believes those words, then he must have been overjoyed to win four out of the five races in this weekend's regatta at Lake Carnegie by a comfortable margin.

The men's heavyweights put on an impressive display this weekend. The first boat finished five seconds ahead of Navy, at five minutes, 49.6 seconds.

Understanding the importance of a balanced team effort in order to defeat a difficult Navy squad, Princeton made use of impressive performances from both likely and unlikely sources.

"The big surprise for us was our third boat," Jordan said. "They had a great courageous performance."

Coming in at 6:12.2, the third boat finished ahead of Navy's third team by a three-second margin.

The two teams had even starts in all the races.

"We were pretty level right up the first quarter; that's what makes me think that Navy was pretty good," Jordan said.

It was in the second quarter of the race that the Tigers were able to pull away and take a comfortable lead — an advantage they desperately needed as Navy mounted a comeback in the final stretch.

Despite the impressive performance, Jordan made it clear that Princeton cannot afford to be complacent about its victory and must continue to build on its strong performance. He added that the boats' lineups will likely change before next weekend's race against Rutgers.

The men's heavyweight boats weren't the only ones that saw success on the water this weekend. The women's open's first boat was victorious in its race against Brown and Michigan State.

"The team showed good fight and a solid effort by all boats. Brown is a very good team and is always strong," head coach Lori Dauphiny said.

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The first open boat finished with a time of 6:33.2, a solid four seconds ahead of Brown.

While Princeton's other women's boats did not have quite as much success as the first, the Tigers remained upbeat.

"It is only the beginning of the season," Dauphiny said. "We will continue to work on fitness, technique and racing."

Next weekend, the women's open squad will travel to Piscataway, N.J., where the Tigers will face Rutgers and Columbia.

Facing the defending national champions, the men's lightweight squad knew it was in for a tough weekend. Though the Tigers lost three of four races to the Midshipmen, all four boats acquitted themselves well against the tough competition. While the first varsity boat lost by four and a half seconds, the third boat was able to pick up a victory.

Next weekend, the men's lightweights host Columbia.

Meanwhile, at Philadelphia's Schuylkill River, the women's lightweight crew rowed well at the Murphy Cup Regatta.

Despite being the only lightweight team competing, the Tigers were able to pull out a first-place finish in the varsity eight, as well as a second-place finish for the second varsity eight and the novice eight.

"I thought that all three of our boats raced well. They did little scrimmaging in the lead up to this race, so it was a good test of their mettle, and they all passed," head coach Paul Rassam said.

Next on the schedule for the women's lightweight team is the Windemere Cup, where the Tigers expect to face stiff competition. Defending national champion Wisconsin will be among the participants.