Still in the very beginning of the season, the women's crew team was unstoppable at Massachusetts Institute of Technology this Saturday, winning all five events. Neither competitors from MIT, University of New Hampshire and Smith College nor rough seas could tame the Big Green rowers.
To begin the races, the Dartmouth women convincingly claimed the first varsity eight two-kilometer event with a time of 7:28, a full 23 seconds ahead of UNH's second-place boat.
Soon after that victory, high winds with gusts in excess of 30 miles per hour on Boston's Charles River created rough waters, causing the second varsity eight event to be shortened to 900 meters.
Coxswain Colleen Harrison '05 spoke of the second varsity boat's domination, "Despite the rough conditions, the two-V pulled away from the start of our race." They finished strong with a time of 3:36.16.
Later in the morning, Dartmouth's A boat won the varsity four with a time of 9:04. In the same event, Dartmouth's B boat took third with a time of 9:41.
For the novice races, Big Green rowers also dominated the waters. Dartmouth claimed the first novice eight in a time of 3:18.49. In the final race, Dartmouth convincingly took the second novice eight with a time of 1:47 on a shortened course.
How did the Big Green crew team overcome such obstacles? The answer is practice. Before Hanover's local Connecticut River thawed, the women's team held three additional practice sessions in Boston.
"We got in some quality strokes during the extra practice sessions," Harrison said.
Captain Lucky Anderson '03 was excited by this weekend's strong showing, noting, "The solid performance of the entire team was an excellent way to start the season, and we're looking forward to finally getting out on our own river for the first time this week."
After a week of practice on the Connecticut, the women's crew team returns to Boston on Saturday for a competition at Northeastern.
