First-Year Crews Row Well in Season?s Lone Appearance
11/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing, Heavyweight Rowing, Lightweight Rowing
Nope. “It was a very nice day,” women's novice coach Shannon Moore said of Sunday afternoon in Princeton, N.J. “The water was flat, and it didn't rain.”
Buoyed by the good weather, all three Columbia programs enjoyed generally good rowing in the Belly of the Carnegie regatta.
Each program was required by regatta rules to divide their eights so they were of even speed. Columbia's two heavyweight eights were 14th and 17th in 23-boat fields; the lone lightweight shell was 15th of 21; and the women's novice eights were 16th and 18th of 24.
Freshman heavyweight coach Dan Perkins was pleased.
“The race showed that we're definitely on track,” he said. “The boat included both recruits and walk-ons, so this was a new experience for a lot of guys and an introduction to the [Eastern] Sprints League, which is very competitive.
“There was good rowing, but not a lot of passing. We were right in the thick of it, in the middle of the pack.”
Columbia A was timed in 14:27.66 on Lake Carnegie and B was three places back in 14:49.18. Princeton A and B were 1-2 in 13:54.04 and 13:55.85. The Lions defeated Bucknell A and Delaware A, plus George Washington B, Penn B and Bucknell B.
The men's lightweight eight was 15th in 14:20.79, topping Georgetown A and Delaware A, plus B boats from those two schools and Penn.
“They did a good job. Technically, we demonstrated really good rowing,” freshman coach Vaclav Kacir said. “It was good to compare to other schools. We're going to work hard over the winter so that we will be more competitive in the spring.”
Shannon Moore generally liked what she saw. “I thought they raced hard,” she said. “While I was watching them, they were doing a good job of racing.”
Still, she was “a little bit disappointed” in her novice crews, expecting them to finish higher, more among the leaders. Radcliffe (Harvard) C won the race in 15:30.55, followed by Princeton, Radcliffe and Dartmouth A boats. Several other EAWRC crews topped the Lion crews, which were timed in 17:17.65 (A) and 17:28.73 (B).
“We are going to work hard over the winter,” the coach said. “We have strength to gain and speed to find.”
The regatta concluded Columbia's fall racing season.
