Rowers ready for final regattas

On the Cooper River in New Jersey, the women’s lightweights went down to the wire with a tight finish against defending Sprints champion Wisconsin. In the end, the Tigers crossed the line in 6:42.12 for second, just .78 seconds behind the Badgers. Princeton and Wisconsin are two of the country’s dominant programs, and both outpaced third-place Georgetown by more than seven seconds. The women’s open crew finished its grand final in 6:31.11, good for fourth place behind Radcliffe’s 6:30.55.

This weekend, Princeton’s crews hope to build on those performances as the women’s open team heads to NCAAs in California and the men’s heavyweights and men’s and women’s lightweights head down I-295 to Camden, N.J., to compete in the IRA national championships.

Eastern Sprints is an experience unlike the small-scale regular-season dual meets and excellent preparation for this weekend’s national championships. Teams first race in the morning’s preliminary heats, and qualifying teams move on to the afternoon’s grand finals, based on which medals are awarded. All of Princeton’s 1V boats made it to this most competitive race, which bodes well for this weekend’s races, but the program showed true depth in that its other teams also competed at the top of the league. Each of the men’s lightweight and heavyweight crews qualified for their grand finals, as did the open women’s novice eight, varsity four and novice four boats. Preliminary races were not held for lightweight women.

Among the heavyweights, the freshman eight stood out with its second-place finish. The open women’s novice eight also showed promise, taking the silver in its event with a time of 6:49.98. The Tigers’ N4 women placed third in the grand final, and the V4 finished fifth in its race. The men’s lightweight 2V team took fourth with a time of 6:18.33, while the heavyweight 2V, 3V and lightweight freshmen finished sixth in their races.

But aside from the competition, the thing that really sets Sprints and IRAs apart is the the incredible Princeton camaraderie. Tiger athletes, parents and alumni show up en force, giving this regatta a different sort of spirit that the Tigers hope will propel them to greater success.