The famed Head of the Charles Regatta on Sunday gave the men's and women's crew their first opportunity this season to see how they stack up. Both teams must have come away pleased, especially since success at the Charles has traditionally predicted excellence in the spring season.
Princeton finished well in the top races. The two men's lightweight boats took fourth and ninth place in the lightweight eights race, with the fourth-place boat finishing first among all collegiate teams, while on the women's side, the lightweights placed second in the lightweight eights race.
The men's lightweights performance was particularly impressive, as the Tigers were the only team to have two boats finish in the top 10. Princeton's top boat finished fourth behind the New York Athletic Club, the Hollandia Boat Club and Rowing Canada, with an adjusted time of 14:45.430, just 20 seconds off the winner's pace. The second eight finished ninth with an adjusted time of 15:09.142.
In the women's lightweight division, the women's eight finished in second place behind the Canadian national team from the London Training Center with an adjusted time of 17:18.602, edging out rival Wisconsin by four seconds. They also topped another rival, Radcliffe, which is Harvard's rowing team. The women's four came in 10th place with an adjusted time of 19:47.031. The four were fifth place out of the colleges present.
The heavyweight men's eight finished in fourth place with an adjusted time of 14 minutes, 32.153 seconds. They finished third against collegiate teams and fourth overall, bested only by the U.S. Rowing team, Wisconsin and Brown.
"[Our performance] was pretty good. I thought we could have done a little bit better in our race, but I'm excited for the rest of the season," senior heavyweight Dave Lambourn said.
There will be stiff competition for the Tigers from those collegiate teams this year, but the team is confident.
"We have the talent — there's no reason why we shouldn't compete," Lambourn said. "It's going to be a good season. There's always going to be competition."
Finally, the women's open team entered two even boats, which finished 23rd and 24th. Penalties dragged the open team down, however. Princeton's top finishing boat received a 20-second penalty for steering out of the marked race line. The 24th place team would have finished in fifth place if it hadn't incurred a costly one minute penalty after it failed to yield to another crew.
Looking ahead, the Tigers still have a plethora of competition vying for the Eastern Sprints title, as well as the Ivy League and the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges championship. Chief rival Brown edged Princeton in the heavyweight division, while Navy, Yale and Northeastern finished close to the Tigers in the men's lightweight division.
Brown and Yale also seem to be emerging powers in the open division of the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges.
With their first test behind them, the Tigers can now look forward.
"We have faith in our coach[es] to help our technique," Lambourn said. "We have a really good work ethic, and we are ready to train really hard."
The fall rowing season continues this weekend with the annual Princeton Chase Sunday at Lake Carnegie.
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