Crew: Rowers complete tuneup for Sprints

This past weekend, the open women were on the same racecourse as they will be in the upcoming championship, getting in some quality practice in the same format in which they will be racing in two weeks. The Metro Cup hosts many local teams, and this year was Princeton’s first appearance. The format was the same as it will be in two weeks: a morning qualifying heat and an afternoon final. In the heat, the Tigers raced hard through the first 1,250 meters and opened up a significant lead. With 750 left, they had practically ensured qualifying and strategically conserved energy for the final later that afternoon.

The Tigers won the heat in six minutes, 43 seconds, followed by the University of Rhode Island in second with 7:02 and Rutgers in third with a finishing time of 7:10. Fordham won the other heat with a time of 7:05, followed closely by Bucknell with a time of 7:06. The University of Massachusetts finished third, just 0.2 seconds behind Bucknell. These six crews advanced to the final, held several hours later.

Princeton had the last race of the day locked down right from the start. The Tigers got off the blocks with a quick and powerful high 20, and the competition was already behind. Sitting up on the field, Princeton was able to execute its race plan perfectly and put together one of its best races of the season.

“Our strength has been in our starts this season,” junior coxswain Ariel Frost said. “We were strong off the start, and we never looked back.”

The varsity boat won the race in 6:29 by a healthy margin over second-place Bucknell, who came in at 6:42. URI finished third in 6:46, Fordham in fourth with 6:51.5 and U-Mass in fifth with 6:51.9. Rutgers came in at 6:55.

The rest of the women’s boats had a good day as well. The second varsity boat won its heat and its final. The final time of 6:53.5 was almost 10 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Bucknell’s. Princeton entered three varsity four boats, which each placed top-two in their respective heats to qualify for the final.

Princeton won two out of the three heats and sent two boats to the grand final and one to the third-level final. The Varsity C four won the third-level final with a time of 8:29. The Varsity A and B fours advanced to the grand final, in which the A boat took first with a time of 7:39 and the B four took sixth with a time of 8:05. The closest competition for the A boat was Bucknell in second with a time of 7:43 and Villanova in third with a time of 7:55.

The race proved to be an ideal trial for the women, who will face off against more competitive crews in two weeks on the same course and in the same format.

The heavyweight men were home on Lake Carnegie this weekend against Brown in their last dual race of the season. This year the Content Cup was contested with a strong headwind sweeping directly down the lake.

In the last week before Sprints, both crews were finalizing their race plans before the big match. In the varsity race, both crews had equally fast base speeds, but Brown was able to distance itself from Princeton during the Bears’ moves. With moves at the 1,250- and 750-meter marks, Brown picked up a nine-second lead and won the race in a time of 6:12 over Princeton’s 6:21.

In a slightly less windy race, Princeton’s second varsity also lost to Brown, which pulled out a better time than Brown’s first varsity boat. This only attests to the drastic effect that wind can have on a race. Brown’s winning time was 6:07, while Princeton came in at 6:22.

Princeton also lost the third varsity race to Brown, which finished in a time of 6:22, four seconds ahead of Princeton’s 6:26. The freshman race had a breakage in the first five strokes of its piece, so the race was pushed to the last race of the day. Brown, though shaken by the breakage, did not hold back, and it won the freshman race in 6:22, 17 seconds faster than the Tigers.

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“Brown has a really fast program this year, and historically this race is always incredibly competitive,” said junior Chris Courtin, a rower on the first varsity boat.

With just a week before all of the Eastern colleges get together at Sprints, the heavyweights have to solidify their lineup and race plan to pull out a dynamic race this coming Saturday.

Both the lightweight men and lightweight women were off from racing this weekend, but the crews continued training in preparation for the final test of their seasons. Both men’s crews race at Worcester, Mass., this coming weekend in the Easter Sprints Championship, and the women race in Camden, N.J., in two weeks for their Eastern Sprints.