“Starts! Starts! Starts! Starts! Starts! Starts! Starts! EVERYBODYYY!” Sprint season is the best season, as many Blue Crew rowers would attest. Bamy’s love for starts has made what is now known as the Starts Song become a staple chant on the bus. Because what could be more exhilarating than the first five strokes that get the boat off the line in lightning speed?
We’re hoping that the good start we got off to this past weekend gives us steady momentum as we head onward with our mission. Blue Crew raced against Tufts, Bates, and Wesleyan at the Malden River on Saturday and against WPI, Holy Cross, Trinity, Rochester and Bates at Lake Quinsigamond on Sunday. With 3 2K’s over two days, we knew that this would be a test both physically and mentally – but our performances showed that we have the toughness to not only embrace the challenge, but also to do well.
We arrived at the Malden River early on Saturday morning – the first ones to the regatta, as usual – and quickly discovered that our tent had…skylights in it. The squirrels in our boathouse really seem to be against us. Earlier that week, one had jumped out of Maggie McConnell’s seat in a four that we were using for seat races. At least it was before we launched…
Squirrels and skylights notwithstanding, all boats won their heats on Saturday against Tufts, with impressive races from the 1N and 3V. In what was the novice rowers’ first sprint race ever, both boats finished with open water. Props to coxswains Jess Walker and Susan “Tex” Laves steered the notoriously narrow and tricky Malden River with skill and precision! In the finals, the three varsity boats fell to second-ranked Bates College, but not without a solid fight.
The varsity eights narrowed the margin against Bates on Sunday at Quinsigamond. The 1V race came down to a close finish with a four-second spread between the top three finishers (Bates, Trinity and Wellesley). Especially noteworthy was the 2V race, in which the Ames beat out Trinity to finish second behind Bates, with a margin of 5.1 seconds. In the novice race – the first of many 2K’s on Quinsigamond for the first-years – the O’Neal came in second behind Trinity, beating Holy Cross and WPI. (Please see row2k.com for a full list of times.)
A special shout-out goes to the parents who made the time and effort to come all the way down to see our races and to provide us with delicious post-race hot food, and to Tess Ruderman and Jess Frey’s parents for taking some great photos. Our three coaches (plus Stella) might just be in the running for America’s Next Top Model.
After many “pieces con switches,” technical refinements, and some heavy lifting (or what Olivia Froehlich would call, “pumpin’ irrrooon!”) we’re confident that the quality work we’ve put in this week will translate into every stroke on Saturday’s NEWMAC Championships. We will be racing once again at Quinsigamond against Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Clark, WPI and Coast Guard, with a new, HUGE, skylight-free 10x20 tent that better reflects our large appetites – especially our hunger to win. To answer my previous question: what could be better than a great starting five? The answer to that might just be THE SPRINT!
Valerie (DJV) Soon '13
