Rowers spend summer on the water

Princeton rowers know no off-season. Tigers spent the summer grabbing Henley, Under-23 World Championship and World Championship titles, not to mention a world record.

The university rowers did not have a monopoly on the awards this summer — open coach Lori Dauphiny took one home as well. Dauphiny was named 2006 National Coach of the Year after a 14-0 regular season as well as Eastern Sprint and NCAA Championship wins by open water. Dauphiny was named Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

The men's heavyweight crew went into the Henley Royal Regatta with an undefeated spring season behind it, as well as first place at the 2006 Eastern Sprints and the 2005 Head of the Charles. The Tigers ended the spring season with a silver medal at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships.

"Nationals left them with a bad taste in their mouth," coach Curtis Jordan said. "They were focused on going over and winning Henley because they wanted to end the season on a good note."

The Tigers were competing for the Ladies' Challenge Plate.

"Henley is a different kind of regatta than [the ones] we normally race," Jordan explained.

In Henley, the boats compete in a series of dual races with single elimination over the course of five days, unlike the multiple-boat heats the team races in the regular season.

"It's like a tennis ladder," Jordan said. "It's difficult because you don't know who the competition will be, and we had never competed against some of the teams we met. We weren't sure how our team would handle it."

The team, however, had some experience with the race going into Henley. Five members of the varsity boat were in the freshman boat that took the Temple Cup at Henley in 2003.

"The team prepared very maturely for the race," Jordan said. "We had limited practice time in the States. After nationals, we gave the team a week and a half break, over which many of the rowers were involved with the National Team or training on their own. We came back to Princeton a few days prior to going over to England and put the boat back together."

Princeton started the week against the Worcester Rowing Club, beating it by nearly three lengths. The Tigers faced Stanford in the semifinals, defeating it by more than two lengths. The next day, they took down the Leander Club in the finals.

After Henley, senior Will England and Alex Hearne '06 went to the Under-23 World Championships. They joined senior Gevvie Stone, Devan Darby '06 and Katrina Wechselberger '06 of the open crew, senior Greg McKallagat of the men's lightweight crew and men's lightweight coach Greg Hughes. Darby and Stone took the gold medal in the eight in Hazewinkel, Belgium, topping off their remarkable spring season. They finished in six minutes and 6.68 seconds.

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"International racing is a lot more intense than college, and the lead can change places at many places down the course," England said.

He rowed in the eight along with Hearne and finished in fifth place in the finals in Belgium.

"Everyone is fitter, and boats are faster," said England. "It was great to see other rowers from all over the world."

The U.S. finished with a time of 5:36.56 in the final. Canada won the race with a time of 5:30.72.

Wechselberger rowed in the Canadian straight four. Her boat finished sixth with a time of 6:51.90. McKallagat's lightweight four won the petite final with a time of 6:06.11.

At the end of August, the focus returned to England — the country, not the rower — with the 2006 World Rowing Championships in Eton, in which seven Tigers participated.

Caroline Lind '06 of the open crew, coming off Ivy League, Eastern and NCAA title wins in the spring, helped win the world title in record time — 5:55.50. The previous record time, 5:56.55, was set by the United States in the preliminary round of the 2004 Athens Olympics. Her boat edged out second-place Germany by nearly two seconds and third-place Australia by nearly five.

Former teammate Andreanne Morin '06 rowed for the Canadian 8+, finishing in fifth place in the grand final. Heavyweight crew captain Steve Coppola '06 rowed in the men's 8+, winning the bronze medal in the grand final after Germany and Italy. Coppola's boat finished in a time of 5:24.14.

Former Tiger Jamie Faris '04 rowed in the Canadian men's 8+, taking third in the petite final. Senior Jesse Karmazin of the heavyweight crew rowed in the U.S. Adaptive 4+, finishing fifth in 3:36.83. Former Tigers Lia Pernell '03 and Simon Carcagno '98 also rowed in fours. Pernell finished sixth in the U.S. women's 4x, and Carcagno finished third in the petite final in the U.S. lightweight men's 4-.