Crew: Winds wreak havoc for men and women

Navy’s strength is in its depth, which the Midshipmen proved in the third varsity race. The Tigers, with a heavyweight substituted for an injured rower, attacked the start and battled for an early lead. The Midshipmen, however, racing both their third varsity and second freshmen, pushed back on Princeton. The Tigers fell short of Navy, placing third in six minutes, 48.4 seconds.

In the second varsity race, Columbia joined the competition to test its mettle against Princeton and Navy. When the gun went off, Princeton executed a powerful start, but so did Navy; the crews were tied coming out of the starting 250 meters. Columbia, though they maintained contact, began to fall back. Princeton settled out to its base pace and started inching away from Navy.

By the end of the first 500, the Tigers were a seat up on Navy. In the second 500, however, the Midshipmen executed a dynamic move and took a length on Princeton. The Tigers fought to regain lost time, but they could not close the distance between themselves and the Navy boat. Navy took the race with a time of 6:12.4, Princeton came in four seconds later, and Columbia followed the Tigers by 10 seconds.

In the varsity race, the Tigers sought to avenge last year’s loss of the Joseph Murtaugh Cup. The race went off, and Princeton jumped to an early six-seat lead on Navy. In the first 500, the Midshipmen could not handle Princeton’s pace, and the Tigers extended their lead. Columbia started falling behind and remained down the rest of the race. In the last 500 meters, Princeton remained unyielding and finished ahead of Navy with about a length to spare. The Tigers’ finishing time was 5:58.0, Navy came in at 6:01.3, and Columbia finished in 6:22.9. The victory secured the Murtaugh Cup and the top ranking for Princeton.

The lightweight women hosted MIT on Lake Carnegie as the conditions worsened. Strong crosswind gusts unsettled the boats throughout the race, but the Tigers powered through it. They finished their race in a time of 7:16.6, and MIT finished more than 15 seconds later.

The next race was the varsity four. The rowers in this race probably faced the most difficulty due from the winds. Despite the weather conditions, both teams remained competitive in the first 500, but Princeton pushed ahead and extended its lead throughout the rest of the piece. The Tigers finished in a time of 8:04.4, and MIT A and B finished 10 and 40 seconds later, respectively.

On Saturday, the first varsity heavyweights traveled to California for the San Diego Crew Classic to compete against the most powerful teams in the nation. The heavyweights got their first taste of what their opponents will bring to the table later in the season. Princeton placed third in its heat, advancing to the final. After the first 250, UC Berkeley, had jumped out to an early lead, but the field was close behind. After the first 500, however, UC Berkeley had secured a definitive lead, and the rest of the crews were battling for second and third. The field sifted out over the next 1,000 meters, leaving Stanford, Harvard and Washington fighting for second place and Princeton and Brown close in the chase. The Golden Bears continued dominating until the end, finishing in a time of 5:51.8. The rest of the field followed close behind, with Princeton placing sixth at 6:07.07.

Overall, the Princeton heavyweight crew had a powerful race, demonstrating that they would be competitive when they faced these crews again.

Open crew traveled to New Brunswick to face Columbia and Rutgers. The conditions were by far the worst for the open women this weekend: Mother Nature was throwing her worst at the rowers. There was a 50-miles-per-hour tailwind, and the rowers fought an opposing current. The wind was so strong that the women’s freshman four was almost unable to paddle up to the start of the race — their race was reduced from 2,000 meters to 1,000 meters on account of the conditions. Despite the rough conditions, Princeton showed that it was not fazed and that it could win despite the weather.

The Varsity A boat jumped out to an early lead and did not sit on its margin. The Tigers continued to push throughout the race, leaving their opponents to scramble for second place. The Tigers finished in a time of 6:13.49, almost 20 seconds ahead of Columbia and 26 seconds ahead of Rutgers. In the second varsity race, Princeton again dominated, winning with a time of 6:26.2 compared to 6:43.0 for Columbia and 6:53.2 for Rutgers. In the varsity four events, Princeton took first in both the A and B races, finishing with a sizable margin over Columbia, its only rivals in these pieces.

The heavyweights are home next weekend battling Penn and Columbia, and the lightweight men travel to Ithaca, N.Y., to compete for the Platt Cup. The lightweight women face Bucknell at home on Saturday, and the open crew will compete for the Class of 1975 Cup at Lake Carnegie against Cornell, Harvard and Bucknell.