One week after the women's open crew dominated EAWRC Sprints, the men's crews are getting their own chance to show what they can do. The men's crews will head to Worcester, Mass. this weekend for the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Sprints.
"We prepare all year to race the Eastern Sprints," senior heavyweight captain James Egan explained. "Our stated team goal at the beginning of the year is to win the Rowe Cup – the team trophy that goes to the best combined finish in the 1V, 2V and Freshmen Eight events. But I believe every heavyweight boat we have this year should take home first in their event. Of course we would be disappointed with anything but first place, but I know that these guys are so dedicated and focused that I'm not worried."
The Tigers are heading into this race with the momentum of a nearly four-second victory over Navy last weekend. The undefeated varsity crew is seeded No. 1 for Eastern Sprints, with Brown as No. 2 and Harvard as No. 3.
Last year, the No. 4-seeded Tigers placed second in the first varsity, second varsity and first novice races. Harvard, the No. 1 seed last year, took the first varsity race by just over one second.
The lightweight varsity crew has had three weeks to focus on Eastern Sprints after closing its regular season with an excruciatingly close loss to Yale in New Haven.
"This week we're mostly tuning our race plan and trying to make sure we're rowing well technically," senior captain Prentice Stabler said. "The heats should be more competitive than ever before, so it will be a dogfight just to make it into the Grand Final."
The Tigers are seeded fourth this year after Navy, Yale and Dartmouth. Last year, the first varsity boat did not make it to the Grand Final after losing to Rutgers and Columbia in their heat.
"Any one of the top nine teams could win this weekend, which is crazy since most years there are clearer frontrunners," Stabler said. "We just have to make sure we keep our focus within our boat and prepare to race the full 2000 meters in both the heat and the final, since both will probably come down to really close finishes."
While the heavyweight freshmen have only lost two races this season, they are seeded fourth after Harvard, Brown and Penn.
"I feel like there is no pressure on us; nobody out there expects us to win," coach Martin Crotty said. "I feel like we've had plenty of time between our loss to Brown and this coming Sunday to change a few things, work on our racing speed a bit and then get plenty of rest to ready ourselves for the Sprints."
The lightweight freshmen have also dropped just two races this season. They are seeded third after Navy and Yale. "Every team will be fully prepared, and they will all bring their best races to the heats and finals," coach Scott Alwin said. "Everyone will be peaking for this regatta."
Following Sprints, the Tigers have just one race left. They head to Camden, N.J., for the IRA National Championship Regatta on June 1.
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