The men's varsity heavyweight crew team finished its season on a positive note as they rowed their way into sixth place nationally during the Intercollegiate Regatta Association championship. The Big Green competed with 21 other boats in the championships that were held in Camden, N.J. during the last weekend of May.
The race covered three days. On the first two preliminary days, the crews battled for the top six teams that can compete in the final race called the Grand Final. In these opening rounds, the Dartmouth crew showed incredible effort as they crushed typically powerful crews such as Navy, Boston University and Cornell University to gain a spot in the championship race.
However, despite a strong effort in the finals, the Big Green rowers finished sixth as the University of Washington won the race.
"We knew we had to do something extraordinary [in the final race] because other crews consisted of schools such as Princeton and the University of Washington," Kenneth Deem '98 said."So on the final day we rowed harder than we have rowed all year round. We gave that race everything we had."
Deem was not the only member happy with the team's overall performance on the weekend.
"We were pretty happy to make the final," coxswain Alton Lo '99 said. "We weren't able to get off a clear race because of the injuries. But all things considered, sixth wasn't that bad." Brown followed Washington in second place, while California-Berkeley, Wisconsin and Princeton finished in the other spots ahead of the Big Green.
While the Big Green was pleased with its performance, this year's success left the team with a small taste of what they want next year.
"It's a great accomplishment to finish top sixth in the country," heavyweight coach Scott Armstrong said. "But next year, we want to win the championship."
Also finishing the year off strong was the men's varsity lightweight crew, who finished the season with an eighth place showing at nationals. The freshmen heavyweight crew gave the upperclassmen signs of promise in the year to come as well by finishing eighth place in the IRA competition. This season was the first time the IRA was held as the national championship.
Women's varsity crew finished eighth at the NCAA Women's National Championship on the Lake Natoma, CA.
While most teams are only conditioning and not competing this summer, the Big Green rowers are still in action. The next race for the Dartmouth men's heavyweight crew will be at Canadian Henley in St. Catherine's, Ontario during the second weekend of August.
"The Henley is the biggest crew race in the Western Hemisphere," Armstrong said.
