As the men's heavyweight varsity eight prepared to launch for its race on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., the weather made a pleasant adjustment. In place of the rain that had plagued the course all day was a stunning rainbow. The timing of the rainbow's appearance was poetic. Five minutes, 41 seconds later, Princeton found the storybook 'pot of gold' in the form of two titles: Eastern Sprints and Ivy League Champions.
The Tigers entered Sprints with first place in mind, having been shut out of the top spot by Harvard for the past two years. Many of the senior rowers in the 1V were members of the freshman team that won the 2003 Sprints and the 2003 Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship — all were extremely excited to taste victory once again.
"It felt awesome to win the Sprints, we were so close the last two years and were finally able to get rid of those demons. I don't think I've seen the seniors that happy since we won three years ago," senior captain James Egan said.
The Tigers won the Head of the Charles back in October and in April grabbed the Compton Cup in Cambridge for the first time since 1957. Ranked No. 1 all season and the clear favorite heading in, Princeton was ready to continue breaking ignominious streaks with a win at Sprints.
The Tigers delivered.
Defeating Harvard by a margin of over two seconds, the Orange and Black topped the field and took home the two titles that were on the line.
The Tigers now have an opportunity to do something unprecedented at Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships this weekend.
"No [varsity eight] has ever gone undefeated and then won Sprints and Nationals," Egan said. "That's always been our goal though, and we're carrying some great momentum into our last week of training here until we leave for Camden."
The rest of the boats were unable to live up to the high standard set by the varsity eight, allowing Harvard to take the Rowe Cup — the award given to the crew with the best team performance at Sprints.
Though the lightweight varsity eight failed to reach the grand final, they did win the petite final, and the novice eight won their race by more than three seconds.
Both crews will compete in their final race on Saturday for the IRA championship.
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