RE- Cap:)

It’s been a busy but exciting few weeks for Blue Crew. From bow seat of the 1N I’ve been fortunate enough to see a great deal of racing going on behind us... So here’s a not so quick recap of the past three weeks of racing:

NEWMACs:

With some last minute lineup changes we set out a bit nervously but settled in after the first 500. We walked away in the second thousand, crossing the finish 17.2 seconds ahead of second place Mt. Holyoke. On our row back to the dock, Jess, our coxswain, sang us a heartfelt rendition of “Just a Little Bit.” She was about to start on “Smang it,” but unfortunately we ran out of time.

We docked just as the 2V was going into their final 500 and hear the announcer calling how close the race was. They finished second, just seven seconds behind Smith. We put our boat in slings and ran down to watch the 1V go by. As they passed by the boathouse (near the 500m mark) they were down on almost the entire field. It was a nail-biting race with Wellesley even with Coastguard at 250 to go. Ultimately Wellesley took it in the sprint- as Bamy, stroke seat of the 1V later said, “Well, we decided to win in the last 8 strokes.” It was a great day of racing for everyone, especially for the 1V and 1N winning their individual races. The team won the NEWMAC championship and took home the Florence Jope Smith Cup for the second time in the team’s history.

Malden Sprint Regatta:

With a new lineup, once again, we set out in the 1N a bit nervous for our first race. Racing Smith’s 4V we established an early lead and maintained our composure throughout, recovering nicely after, as Jess put it, nearly grazing the bridge. Later, we raced Smiths 1N and opened the margin by nearly 10 seconds off our margin at NEWMACs, assuring us that the lineup changes would not inhibit our performance. The 1V and 2V both had a strong day as well racing Simmons then Smith. The 1V opened the margin on Smith, and the 2V closed in on Smith. The 3v had a rough first race against Simmons but had a solid second race, finishing 16 seconds ahead of Tufts.

New England Championships:

With our first time racing in the same lineup as the week before, we went into New England’s nervous, but confident. For the first time we hadn’t had our characteristic wakeup call on Thursday morning thus were excited to race and show the improvements we had made. In the morning heats we were between Trinity and Tufts and knew we’d have to have a solid race to advance. We had a rocky start, settling high at first, but we found our rhythm and walked away mid way through the second 500.

In the afternoon we knew we’d have a race from the entire field. Holy Cross and UNH were only one second slower than us from the morning heat, so we knew we’d have to perform in the afternoon. The race went off without a hitch. We were up by a few seats if not even at the 500 meter mark and moved throughout the body of the race. With 500 meter to go we could see Tufts, Holy Cross, and UNH battling it out behind us and set into our sprint with only one thought in our minds, “medals dock.” We crossed the line third, behind Williams and Trinity, five second ahead of fourth place UNH. After cooling down we made our way to the medals dock (the Williams coxswain asked us for directions). It was our perfect race- our start, our settle, the body, the moves, and finally the sprint. We are very proud of how we executed the race and owe a large part of that to our ever wise, and inspiring coxswain Jessy Walker (who made some excellent calls including “They’re wearing flowers in their hair… They have bows!” which inspired one of our biggest moves).

Afterward we watched the 2V and 1V race. The 2V had a strong race but ultimately came in sixth in the grand final against a strong field. The 1V’s race was probably the most exciting of the day. According to Lyndsey (who may have briefly ‘glanced’ out of the boat) at the 500 meter mark) they were even and walking on Trinity. From the beach we could see them ahead of the field and nearly even with second place Bates. Thus the second Wellesley boat of the day made a trip to the medals dock (though this time they knew where they were going).

Going into our last week of the regular season we know we have some work ahead of us. As always the goal is to be even faster this week then we were last. For us in the 1N our goal is to return to the medals dock next weekend and close the margin on Trinity and Williams. As well as get the entire team to call Jess, Jessy. We’re up against everyone we raced this weekend and New York schools, which will surely make for some great racing!

Additionally we have some individual goals for the final week of the season. I’m working on getting my baby hairs under control-- with the help of my ‘big sisters’ Shernaz and Aidan. Jessy is working on a new post race play list-- she’d like to add “Big Girls You Are Beautiful” to her repertoire. Olivia, like always, would like to be more like Bamy. Bamy is campaigning for captain- she believes she will do an excellent job as captain from abroad in Kenya and Tanzania. And Lyndsey would like to even our her tan (burn) lines—she’s got the back of her legs covered, so now the front needs some work…

And finally here are some numbers:

-3^rd place finishes in the 1V and 1N

-4 more days of classes

-5 more morning practices

-6 days till ECACs

-8 days till “Selection Tuesday”/my American Politics Exam

Becca Freeman-Slade ‘14

third, and third and fifth...

Hello!

So it has been a while as we are all feeling the mad crush of the end of the school year, and championship season. To reflect on the title of this post...we are talking about New England Rowing Championships:)

We had a very successful regatta - as the 5th place women's team in the region...and to earn that title, we had to amass a strong finish record at the regatta...which we did. The 3V8+ won the Petite Final by over 10 seconds. The N8+ came in third, behind Williams and Trinity in the Grand Final. The 2V8+ finished 6th in the Grand Final, but is madly closing the gap on crews that have bested us in the last 3 weeks. The V8+ came in third, behind Williams and Bates.

Needless to say, it was the most successful New England Rowing Championships for Blue Crew and now we are off to meet up with all of New England and all of New York next weekend at the ECAC/National Invitational Championship in Worcester....

I promise we will post more this week, as there will be more and more to report:)

Starts anyone??

“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

IT'S GO TIME

In just 3 short days we will be racing - racing a LOT. It will truly indicate how fast our team really is and we are all chomping at the bit!

Saturday is double dual format with Tufts, Bates and Wesleyan - all of our crews are racing Tufts in the first round. Second round is winners race and losers race. Should be some excellent competition!

On Sunday it is ONE AND DONE! One shot down the race course vs. WPI, Holy Cross, Trinity, Rochester and Bates (again).

Time will tell what work we have to do in the coming weeks, and in the meantime, send fast thoughts our way...we have done a TON of great work, lots of battling it out on the river...and honestly when it comes to this weekend...we really feel it is anyone's race...but we are on a mission ;)

The Return

We’re are now back at Swells, with some serious fire in our hearts, drive in our legs and strong conviction to push it hard, then push it harder. Each of us has committed to taking every stroke with the intent to make it better than the last, and to continue building up to our racing season with intensity.

We’ve ended our Spring Break with great enthusiasm - not because it’s over, but because of what we have accomplished and what we have to look forward to. There were numerous seat races, with equally numerous line-ups, and very impressive and exciting races on Thursday. Equally exciting was each meal we ate at Washington College, of course. Wellesley College, please contact Washington College’s Dining Services as soon as possible; whatever they do, they do it well! We were certainly spoiled by the fresh and delicious food, the great service at the Holiday Inn, and the kindness of Washington College for hosting, and sharing their facilities with us.

Noteworthy news from the past week is as follows: Dodge celebrated her Golden Birthday on March 20 - happy birthday, Dodger!! There were some outstanding 2k’s pulled, with a season PR for Bryn Garrity and a career PR for Nicola Rentschler. Some folks who have been managing injuries were back in action both on land and on the water this week as well! It’s exciting to have our team put itself back together as people heal, and get stronger wisely, efficiently and enthusiastically. The race wasn’t so bad either. The 1V had a great race, finishing 19 seconds ahead of Washington College. The 2V finished ahead of Washington College’s first and second varsity boats and the Novice and third varsity boats had phenomenal first 2,000 meter races with a 7 second margin separating them. Needless to say, it was a GREAT way to start the spring season! For official times, please go to row2k.com.

The talent show was nothing short of amazing, thanks to the first year rowers and the sophomores. The novices nailed their skit…to a T! The sophomores somehow arranged for a guest appearance from the one and only Justin Bieber tribute band, followed by some less well-known hip hop artists (or maybe it was spoken word, but you’ll have to check with Becca Kim-baller and Caroline Dodge – they have the official word on the genre). To wrap up our show of talent, Austin re-told the best story of all time…The Great Cat Heist of 1997 (or ’98). Our last night in Chestertown ended with smiles and audible laughter, and we all went to bed looking forward to our final morning on the Chester River, which was awesome.

To backtrack a bit, let it be known that Becca Freeman-Slade and I had a lovely roommate experience. There was not a DAY that I was asked to shower. You know why? Because contrary to popular belief, I am, indeed, hygienic. BFS can confirm that.

Also, please pray that it gets warmer in Boston…rowing in 28 degree weather sounds less than ideal. Probably Fun Type 2 (there will be a detailed lesson on what that means later this week).

Casey Sedlack ‘11

Greetings From Chestertown!

Hello from Chestertown, Maryland—the home of Blue Crew’s spring training trip (for the third consecutive year)! Today is day 2 of spring training. But let me first catch you up to speed on what happened in the last week of winter training: We finally made it to the water! We worked on technical aspects—lots of drills and rowing by pairs, fours, and sixes (as opposed to all eight). It was a bit darker than usual (thank you, daylight savings), however the excitement of just being on the water and not in the KSC (Keohane Sports Center on Wellesley Campus) made us forget the darkness and cold.

To accompany the lighter physical work in the mornings, in the afternoon, we attacked our second round of fitness testing, including the mile run, a “Wendy” circuit, a 30-minute erg test, and the infamous 2k-erg test. All in all, Blue passed with flying colors—with some of the strongest results in the history of this team (need to check my facts, but I’m pretty sure). 17 out of 34 rowers had a PR (personal record) on their 2000m tests, which is HUGE! Way to go Blue! And those numbers are just going to keep on dropping…

A strong round of testing is the best way to leave for spring break: it’s closure. We can say, “Wow, look at what we accomplished indoors this winter!” But, now it’s time to take all the speed and power with us onto the water, and that’s why spring break is so exciting: it’s our first real trial. Sure we can be fast on the erg, but how about on the water? Well don’t worry, from what we’ve seen so far, Blue hasn’t forgotten how to row.

The eight-hour bus ride down to Maryland flew by, with the help of some great movies, of course. When we arrived late Thursday afternoon, we unloaded the trailer, rigged our boats, and set up camp. A beautiful sunset welcomed us to the Chester River (home to Washington College’s facilities—this is also the team we will scrimmage next Thursday). A note about the Chester River, the only thing it has in common with the Charles is the letter C. I’m not kidding: the Chester is so wide across, definitely wider than the Basin (the widest point of the Charles), there’s also only one bridge, no sharp turns, oh, and NO other boats (a coxswain’s heaven, I would imagine).

After set-up at the river, we headed back to the hotel and ate at a nearby restaurant, Broccolini’s. We feared this meant a dinner of only broccoli, but to our delight we had salad and lots of pizza. We turned in for an early night, since most of us were falling asleep at dinner already. We are probably the quietest after-hours group a hotel has ever seen: we may have dance parties and sing-a-longs, but they’re usually over by 8pm.

Friday was our first full day on the water: we went out in four eights (what a sleek fleet of boats!). The new Resolute went out on its inaugural row, and let me tell you, the seat rolls up and down the slide as smooth as skates on ice. The weather was warm mid 50s and sunny. Our morning row usually runs from 7-11am then we have a 3-hour break for lunch, naps, and homework, followed by an afternoon row from 2-5pm. Just in case, parents are reading, I will put you at ease: lots of homework is getting done! In fact right now, I’m writing this during our lunch break, and the breakfast room of the hotel is filled with about ten of us intently doing work.

Today’s row was a bit rougher than yesterday’s—actually it was some of the roughest waters I’ve ever rowed in, as my coxswain Aidan said today, we were literally rowing in the open ocean, but don’t panic: whitecaps, 20mph winds, and 3-foot waves don’t get us down. In the novice boats, we got in 4, 12 minute pieces, and as Austin told the troops: today was the best day he’s had all year, witnessing some of the most focus, technical precision, and raw power than ever before with this group.

In other exciting news, Wellesley Crew is featured on row2k’s website (www.row2k.com), the go-to website for basically the entire rowing community. The picture is of last spring season’s Varsity 8 at NCAA’s. Check it out!

Well it’s getting a bit noisy in the previously quiet breakfast room which means it’s time to get ready for Battle with the Winds round 2. What will be in store for us? Some pieces, some seat racing? Who knows? Regardless, Blue will be ready to attack, making the most of every stroke, every practice. Till next time!

Shernaz Dossabhoy '12

B-Town to C-Town

B-Town to C-Town

It has been slightly less than one month since the commencement of Winter Training, and much to our surprise and delight, Blue Crew is back in business with our good friend, Charles.

Yesterday morning we left for the river at 4:45 am (the early bird special) for some serious spring-cleaning of the boat shack. Boats were taken off of their dusty racks to be wiped down, assessed for any damage that our furry squirrel friends had caused over winter, and the shack was given a thorough back to front deep clean. Even the floor was swept.

Besides the unbelievable efficiency of the team throughout this spring-cleaning process, and seeing former captain Kate Spelman, the best part of the morning was when the red four was put into slings. “Roll down to waist, and roll!” was called, the boat was rolled, and the slings placed, when out like a loaded spring came a small furry animal (later determined to be a squirrel) right at Tess Ruderman’s and Kathryn Goffin’s faces. I’m sure the resulting screams were the due to uncontrollable fits of joy…

Yesterday morning also marked the first day that our new novices, Jen Marble, Hannah Van der Eb and Sarah Halbert were introduced to our beautiful plot of land in Watertown…welcome to heaven, ladies :)

Today was the first row! With three eights (the Colonel wasn’t able to make it, nor was the Ames, the O’Neal or the D-Money) and a four out on the water, it made this rainy day a little bit brighter :) Just technique today, and an intro for the novices about the rowing basics was enough to get us even more excited about you-know-what…SPEED.

Back to some indoor news… great developments have happened athletically in the last week as well. Coogs finished last in this round of beep tests. For those of you who have ever done a beep test, you know that’s a good thing. And get this…she finished at a 12-5. SCREAMIN’ FAST! Thursday’s 30 minute test produced some incredible numbers, and I believe Lyndsey Abt pulled the team’s first sub 2:00 average split (1:57) for the duration of the piece this year! GREAT JOB LYNDSEY!!!

In other wonderful news: team laundry is still going strong, I showered 4 times this week so I could avoid further public embarrassment, and the Resolute looks (and smells) delicious…we’ve also managed to keep it out of harms way…we love you softball, but bats and balls don’t go well with carbon fiber. Also, coach Regan Bernhard is going to Barbados to meet her mother who is about to become the oldest woman to ROW across the Atlantic!! She will be back on Wednesday before we leave for Maryland. Congrats to Regan and her mother, Suzanne Pinto. We can’t wait to hear from Regan about how she’s doing!

Without shadow of a doubt, we are all ready to get out of B-Town to head down to C-Town, focus on nothing but sleeping, eating and rowing, and have a great time with our teammates :)

Oh, and here are some numbers for ya :

- 1 day till we christen the new Resolute 8+

- 6 days till we leave for spring break

- 14 Days until our first race (against Washington College)

Casey Sedlack '11

BLUE CREW HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!

Hello!

After 3.5 grueling weeks of work - aptly described by Becca Freeman-Slade - Blue Crew has left the building!! We are headed to the river in the morning - we will clean out the boathouse, check our boats over, and get the dock positioned and ready for our first row on friday:)

I think it is safe to say that we are all VERY excited:)

One thing that has NOT left the building....the SHINY NEW 8+ from Resolute, which just arrived today...we will keep her tucked away, warm and dry, until we christen her on Saturday:)

Signing out....and to the river:)

March 4th:)

As the first rower to post on this website, I’ll quickly catch you up on our season so far. We officially started on February 14^th at midnight, after months of training on our own. As the clock struck midnight, we ran as a team into the field house and began our first practice. Since then, we have been working hard every morning in the KSC. We’ve erged, run stairs, spun, erged, run, swingulated, erged, lifted (or “pumpin’ iron’” as Olivia calls it), completed circuits, erged, done video review, core circuits, erged, and yoga (spending quality time in corpse pose).

This morning we wrapped up our third week of winter training with a 2K and full team circuit. Coogs, Jess, Gaby, Rachel R, Camille, Hailey, Kristen, Sarah H, Olivia, Bryn, Jen and Maggie W all PRed on their 2ks (that’s 12 people/1.5 boats!). The fastest times of the morning went to first-year varsity rower Lyndsey and first-year novice rower Rachel. Overall the team average is 7.7 seconds faster then at this point last year!!

A couple more exciting numbers:

· 8 days until we christen our brand new resolute 8+

· 13 days until we leave for our spring training trip

· 21 days until our first race (against Washington college)

Some other exciting things that can’t go without mention:

The ice on the Charles is getting thinner every day. On Monday a dog fell through the ice. Two good things that emerge from this story: first, the dog was saved by Cambridge firefighter and second, this proves the ice is getting super thin (it can’t even hold up a dog) so, we should be back on the water any day now…

Coogs, Bamy, Dodge, and DJVal (I never realized how much this team really likes nicknames) raced at Crash B’s. Coogs PRed-- making that 3 PRs in 3 weeks!

Ally, Becca K, and Kathryn all rejoined us this week from their winter sports squash, basketball and diving respectively. Ally had a strong first half of her senior squash season but was sidelined for the second half due to injury. Becca K had a strong basketball season, making it to the quarterfinals of the NEWMAC tournament. Kathryn , despite spending the majority of the two weeks prior recovering from a concussion, finished twelfth at NEWMACs.

Lyndsey learned when to use her arms on the erg this week—yes, this is the same Lyndsey who pulled the fastest 2K on the entire team this morning. Finally, during video review, after weeks of being told to straighten her arms when erging, she asked Regan “So when are you supposed to use your arms?” Congratulations Lyndsey for winning the “Are you kidding me?” award of the week.

Susan (aka Tex), a junior rower and coxswain, participated in the “Disney Princess Half Marathon” with her family over the weekend in Florida. I think everyone was a bit jealous of her sunny vacation, albeit brief.

Finally, my roommate, a non-rower, would definitely say this is the most exciting thing of the entire year- we got laundry loops. Now the staff at the KSC will wash our practice clothes. This is a big, exciting, step forward for the personal hygiene of the blue crew team. Now if only we can get Casey to shower...

That’s all for now. We have a long weekend away from crew (alright, not that long, just no Saturday practice) and we will be taking full advantage of the free time to catch up on work and spend time with friends.

-Becca Freeman-Slade 14’

Coming your way

Something new is coming your way...sure, I could give you all kinds of information about our first rounds of testing and how they were much stronger than last, that we used this new device called the swingulator - kind of like a dry tank - and that we did amazing technical work last week, that the energy is really high and people are really positive right now...

But...wouldn't it be so much more fun to hear from your team directly? Starting next week, team bloggers from your BLUE CREW team will be posting and providing updates about the team from THEIR perspective.

Should be good, so stay tuned:) In the meantime, keep the fast thoughts coming our way:)

T-Minus 5 hours and 5 minutes

IT IS ALMOST HERE....that time we have ALL been waiting for...

Spring Season, 2011.

We kick it off tonight - well, tomorrow morning...at 12:00 am on 2/14, your favorite team will be starting their season, that's right...at the VERY first minute that we can start together as a team, we will.

Photos will indeed follow...and in the meantime, send the speed vibes our way.

Blue Crew - Spring 2011 - BP!

24 Days and Counting

We are just 24 days from the official start of our spring season. If you asked any member of this team when the spring season starts, they would tell you - "11/1/10!" That is when we hit our winter training, really emphasizing the fact that winter is the REAL start of spring season.

They have been training hard and are so excited to be back together officially as a team!

24 little days...and then it is GO BLUE time, and more updates will be sure to follow:)

TIME FLIES...

...When you are having fun! The season is flying by and we are showing our skills and power each and every day to each other, and to our competitors. The team is gaining more and more speed every day and the lineups are moving really well.

We have had a couple of great weekends and it has been so wonderful meeting so many new family and friends and the support from all of our family and friends has been amazing!

Since my last post, we have raced at the Textile River Regatta in Lowell, MA - where the V8+ came in silver medal position - even better, our 2V8+ dominated the other 2Vs and our 3V8+ dominated the other 3Vs. Our novice 8+ and 2nd novice 8+ had their first races and brought home bronze in the event!

This past weekend, we raced at the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta, we were seeing more competitive crews and again, the V8+ brought home silver, our 2V8+ crushed the other 2Vs in the field and our 3V8+ did the same.

We are now preparing two crews for the Head of the Charles Regatta - everyone is pushing each other so that those who are representing the team at HOCR can be as successful as possible...all the while maintaining our mission toward our main team objective.

Hope to see you at HOCR! 4+ is at 4 pm on 10/23 and the 8+ is at 2:20 pm on 10/24.

Ready.

So, the amazing thing about testing is that it showed us just how fit our team is, and it is SUCH a strong place to start from. But the even more amazing thing is the focus on the water and the really great technical place we are starting from. The rowers are really making huge strides with every stroke and the coxswains (always invaluable on the craziness that is the Charles River) are nailing their turns and leading their crews very well.

We (the coaches) just keep thinking..."is this for real?"...(in a good way:)

We are starting to sort out lineups - preliminarily based on testing results and as we move through the next week and a half, we will be making some changes based on technique and seat racing.

We did "pieces" this morning and EVERY boat did a great job...they did THEIR job!

More later!!!

ANNNND, we're off!!!!

We are off and running! The season started this morning, with round one of testing...a 30 minute erg test, followed by a 1' erg test...all in all, it definitely showed us coaches that the summer training plan works...those that followed it really performed so well. All in all a great start to what we are certain will be a great season.

More updates soon...we hit the water tomorrow:)

Two more days!!

Just two more days before the season officially starts! We had a good first meeting and lots of new faces were welcomed and welcomed back!

Tomorrow we volunteer with Wellesley's Day To Make A Difference (our fifth year) and will be cleaning up Revere Beach. Always a great way for us to kick off our year! I will post some photos soon!

The COACHES countdown:)

So, the official countdown (HOURLY, that is) has begun! In 48 hours, the three crazy coaches from Blue Crew will be done with their mile swim, and midway through their 24 mile bike ride, only to be followed by a nice 10k at the Fireman Triathlon!

We race on Sunday 8/29, starting at 7:30, so send us some fast thoughts:)

I will post results later! :)

p.s. 17 days 'til our season starts!

The Countdown!

Well, the countdown begins:

In 3 weeks our first years arrive - there are 9 recruits coming to join us from great high school rowing programs all across the country. They will make a HUGE impact, and will join our already young and eager team...

In 4 weeks classes begin...

In 5 weeks our 2010 - 2011 crew year begins and I cannot wait! We will have a very large varsity roster this year and have had a great deal of interest coming from the incoming first years.

We are going to make this a great year...so hang on to your hats!

OH WHAT A SPRING!!

So, since it has been an entire spring season since the creation of this blog, you get an entire season worth of a "recap" :)

WHAT A SPRING!! After a whirlwind of a regular spring racing season, which found us consistently as the 4th place team in New England, we met our single objective...but before I give the objective away, here is a recap of our regular spring season!

Our first race of the season (at Washington College - our spring training host) was a strong first outing for the team. The varsity 8+ bested the Washington College V8+ by more than 10 seconds and the very young 2V8+ stuck to their race plan and had a solid first outing as well. The novices also raced in the 2V8 event and held their own - the first week on the water for 4 of our new rowers ended in a first race that showed us they were already an important asset to the program.

Our second race was actually a weekend of back to back to back racing! On April 10th, we headed to Tufts to race Wesleyan, Tufts and Bates. This race is a double dual format so each crew had an opportunity to race two other teams on the course. Each boat walked away with a win, as well as some unfinished business and we set our sights on closing in and beating some specific crews for the rest of the spring. The very next day we headed to Worcester to race host WPI, Trinity, Bates, Rochester and Holy Cross. The highlight of the day was the 2V besting DI rival Holy Cross at the line. This was the race that would show New England that our 2V was the crew to beat, but also showed us that we had to make some changes to the V8+ lineup to find more speed. We made those changes going into the next week....let's just say it paid off!

Our third weekend of racing was the NEWMAC Championship, hosted by Clark University - the NEWMAC rowing programs are: Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Clark, WPI, Coast Guard and Wellesley. We certainly raced well! The day started with the Novice 8+, which caught a heartbreaking and boat-stopping crab within the first 250 meters, but they recovered and finished strong - our 2N raced as the 3V and came in 2nd in the field! The 2V won the 2V event and garnered us some major points, and the V8 came in second behind Smith..by .3, yes... POINT 3 seconds. We came in as the runner up in team points again behind Smith. We were recognized by our peer institutions as the team that demonstrated the most sportsmanship and for the 3rd time in 4 years, we won the NEWMAC sportsmanship Award. Kate Spelman '10 and Hannah Dornbusch '10 were named to the NEWMAC All-Conference team and Aidan Chambers '13 was named to the Novice All-conference team.

Our 4th weekend of racing found us back at Tufts at the 3rd Annual Malden Spirit Regatta - with Tufts, Smith and Simmons. Each crew again raced in the double dual format and the crew of the day was the 2V8+. Each of the other boats found success in one race - however that elusive V8+ title was still out there.

Still ranked fourth in New England, we entered the New England Championship Regatta with a little bit of confidence, but knew that we had a LOT of work cut out for us...The 2V8+ again was the crew of the week - dominating in their heat and then coming in a SUPER IMPRESSIVE 3rd place. The V8+ fell 1 spot short of the grand final and did not race to their full potential in the petite final - being eeked out by Mount Holyoke - that stung a bit...but revenge is sweet. The novice 8+ made it to the petite final and raced well and our little 2N again raced up as a 3V8+ crew and held their own on the course.

Our last regular season race was the ECAC National Invitational on 5/9. We knew we had to perform and it was our last shot for the varsity crews. The 2V8+ which had been carrying the team and holding the 4th position in New England, struggled to gain their composure in the heat and only made it as far as the petite final - the V8+ then had the full pressure sitting on their shoulders - we knew that we had to beat Smith, Mount Holyoke and Smith to secure our 4th place team status - having been beaten by each of these crews in the last 3 weeks, we knew it had to be the race of a lifetime....and boy did they stand up to the pressure - in the last 500 they walked through smith, in the last 400 they walked through simmons, in the last 250 they walked through Mount Holyoke and defined Wellesley as the 4th place team in New England....the rest was in the hands of the DIII NCAA Rowing Committee...

5/11 - Selection Tuesday....we all sat on pins and needles all day - and as the first day of finals - it certainly was a tough distraction!! at 3 pm, we gathered in the KSC Classroom to watch the selection video...you can find the team's reaction to earning a TEAM BID TO THE 2010 NCAA ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS on the main athletics webpage...i can guarantee you it is worth the watch:) 5/12 found us seat racing and re-arranging our lineups to make sure we had the fastest combinations in the two boats that would represent Wellesley in Sacramento, CA @ NCAAs. We had 2 very productive weeks of double practices leading up to our departure for California!!!

May 26th we left Logan and arrived to a Wellesley greeting at SMF from the Sacramento Alumnae Club....headed straight to the racecourse and got ourselves ready to race. Being alongside the best DI, DII and DIII teams in the country was a little daunting to our very young team - we had 10 first years travelling and 9 racing for Wellesley (yes, the future does look bright). We stood up to the challenge! Surrounded by the greatest fans - Alum from near and far, and parents from near and far - we were ready to race.

In our first round of racing in the morning heats on 5/28 both boats came in third - qualifying the V8 for the grand qualfiying race and the 2V for the petite qualifying race - this is exactly where we wanted to be...and proved that we indeed deserved to be there as a team. The qualifiers in the afternoon did not pan out as we had hoped....the V8 came in 3rd - the top 2 advance to the grand final and the 2V came in 4th - the top 2 advanced to the petite final. That put the V8 in the petite final and the 2V in the third level final for saturday. Saturday (5/29) we headed to the course with one goal in mind...WIN our finals...well.... :) Guess, what...we did! The 2V8 raced first and battled with St. Lawrence all the way down the course, but held on and beat them by 5 seats across the line. Tight, but we KNEW they would pull it off...our little boat of 9 with 6 first years rocked it! The V8 raced second and battled with St. Lawrence - they were down in the first 500, pulled even in the 2nd 500, pulled ahead at the half, 3rd 500 bow to stern, last 250....OPEN WATER by about 3/4 of a length - it was the race of a lifetime for all of these kiddos! They were simply awesome and we celebrated them, the seniors, their parents and our friends at our finish line picnic.

We had one objective - to make it to the NCAA Championship. We went in as the 7th place team in the country and came out as the 5th place team in the country....simply amazing. We said all year - If you want something you have never had, you have to do something you have never done. People thought we were crazy in February, when we had the kids saying "We're going to NCAAs"....well, we all know what happened....

It has been a simply amazing spring. Get ready for even more speed this coming year...we have 9 recruits coming in, all with great experience.

A great many thanks go to so many people - all of our friends and family, to Austin and Regan our assistant coaches, to Bridget Belgiovine, to Jack Daigle to Martha Dietrick to our seniors (Hannah, Kate, Gabby, Joan, Hilary & Laura) and to our captains (Kate Spelman, Hannah Dornbusch and Gabby Wakeman) your leadership is just what this team needed at just the right time.

Have a great summer and see you in the fall!!!

Welcome to the Wellesley Crew Blog - check back often for updates and information about the "first women on the water"!