The Tripod

Media Credit: Stephanie Apstein [Click to enlarge]

Despite freezing temperatures and high winds, the Trinity College men's and women's crew teams opened their seasons three weeks ago to positive results.

On March 29, the men's third varsity and novice eights, as well as a varsity four, traveled to Ithaca, N.Y. to race the Cornell University Big Red lightweight team, the Hobart College Statesmen, the Ithaca College Bombers, and the Marist University Red Foxes, while the varsity and novice women raced Ithaca, the William Smith College Herons, and Marist.

Though weather conditions were less than accommodating, with ice, strong headwinds and a tail current, the women's varsity eight won its heat and raced in the Grand Final, finishing at 7:41:07 to win the event. The second varsity eight lost to Ithaca in the heat, but bested William Smith in the Petite Final.

The men's varsity four recorded the only win on the men's side with a victory over Marist.

The varsity men enjoyed a more pleasant atmosphere, as they traveled to California to compete in the PAC-10 Rowing Challenge, sponsored by Windermere Real Estate, that same weekend, in Redwood Shores, Calif. Despite the difficult schedule, which included a 3 a.m. Friday arrival in California followed shortly by a 9 a.m. race, the men performed well.

The first varsity eight lost on Saturday morning to the University of California-Berkeley Golden Bears, whose freshman eight last year won a national championship, by 14 seconds. The second varsity fell by the same margin to Cal's second varsity. The afternoon was more successful, as the varsity beat the Gonzaga University Bulldogs soundly and the second varsity bested the University of California-San Diego Tritons by a margin of under one second. Both crews lost to the Stanford Cardinal the next morning.

Head Coach of Men's Rowing Larry Gluckman said, "Our goal for Windermere was to return on the plane a faster crew than when we arrived. We accomplished that by working through tough competitors, schedule and conditions. Cal-Berkeley, Gonzaga and Stanford were strong rivals and we raced better each race […] In the end both crews raced with enthusiasm and represented the college well."

Sophomore coxswain Flip Luisi pointed out the potential of an excellent rowing season. "Going out to race in California was amazing [… Stanford] came out expecting to crush us because they are a scholarship Division I program with three oarsmen returning from the U23 National Team eight from last summer, whereas we are a Division III program. They tried to get a big lead early and break us, but we responded to every move they made with one of equal intensity. They ended up beating us by just a boat length. It was a good note to start the season off with," he said.

This year's men's team is younger than in seasons past, but the co-captains agree that their inexperience has not hindered them.

"I am pretty impressed with the maturity that our team has shown over the past couple of weeks," said senior co-captain Gary Moffat. "We lined up against some pretty amazing PAC-10 crews in California and we were able to represent Trinity strongly."

Classmate and fellow co-captain Geordie Coffin added, "Obviously this is a much younger team than we have had for a couple of years. We graduated five out of the eight rowers in last year's eight. The interesting thing is that even with all of those guys gone, this is one of the fittest teams Trinity has ever had. We have great potential."

Two Saturdays ago, on April 5, the men's varsity eight, second and third varsity eights, novice eight, and varsity four boats raced the Coast Guard Bears while the women's varsity eight, second varsity eight, novice eight, and three varsity fours raced the Bears and the UConn Huskies. The regatta was scheduled to be held at Trinity's Friends of Trinity Rowing Boathouse in East Hartford, Conn., but the Connecticut River, which has flooded to 17.5 feet above its normal level, was deemed to be unsafe.

At the last minute, the racing was relocated to Coventry Lake in Coventry, Conn., home of the Huskies.

"All the US Coast Guard Academy races were hard fought and rowed in nearly perfect conditions thanks to the efforts and hospitality of Jen Sanford-Wendry, the varsity women's coach at UConn," Gluckman recounted. "The Trinity College versus Coast Guard race is our oldest annual regatta, begun in the early 70s. Over the years each school has won its share and Saturday's racing demonstrated the enthusiasm for competition between these two schools."

The men's varsity eight winner each year earns the Emerson Cup, named for Fred Emerson, who contributed substantially to the early successes of both programs. Trinity retained the Cup with a varsity time of 5:58.8. The second varsity and novice eights each won their respective events.

The women found similar success, with wins from both the first and second varsity eights. The first varsity four won its event and the second and third fours placed first and second, respectively, in their event.

"We had a great racing weekend. Everyone, for the most part, won their races," commented junior Evan Daley.

Women's senior co-captains Amanda Kulik and Carmel Zahran were extremely proud of how the women's team performed.

"I thought that the women's and men's team and coaches handled the unexpected river level rise very well," said Kulik, "The racing schedule with UConn and Coast Guard was up in the air for a while, but everything was straightened out. Many of the races went well. I thought that the 2V had a tremendous race against UConn in the eight. Our blades were connected, together and our impulse felt fantastic."

"This year I've noticed there's been a shift to focus on individuals," said Zahran, "We all have high expectations - to go faster, to make each other better, and to accept criticism, which takes a lot of initiative. I'm excited not just because of the experience or the individual races; it's to see everyone trying so hard all the time."

The women's varsity eight beat Smith and Mount Holyoke this past weekend, while the second varsity lost by 1.5 seconds to Williams. The men swept St. Joe's at home in a weather-shortened contest.

The upcoming races will only provide more excitement, promised Zahran.

"Bates and UNH had some close racing; they're a young and enthusiastic team, and they're not just going to let us win. It's not something we are going to take for granted," she said.

Kulik added, "As a whole team I think we are just beginning to touch on the power that we will have come New Englands and ECACs and it's going to be really exciting to see what else we can do against our next competitors in the upcoming races."

Though no one can safely predict the outcome of this weekend's upcoming race, the mood is still light at the Trinity boathouse, as Luisi joked, "Now we are set into lineups and trying to maximize our boat speed for championship racing next month and Henley Royal Regatta in the summer […] If our [junior] stroke Eli Roxby gets over his obsession with trying to 'phone home,' we might develop into one of the best crews in the country."

Article Tools