The Dartmouth men's heavyweight crew team rowed Sunday in the 2000 Stonehurst Capital Invitational Regatta, held on the Genesee River in Rochester, NY. The team fared well on the day, finishing in 29:13.93, earning a third place finish and the bronze medal.
The Stonehurst Regatta annually attracts crews from universities around the nation, boasting a total of 29 different crews in 2000. Harvard won the regatta with a time of 29:00.7, followed by a Brown crew that finished in 29:10.1. Dartmouth's third place finish in the rather large field marks the first time that the school has ever medalled in the event.
"It was a good finish, especially for this early in the year," said Stephen Simmerman '01, one of the five senior rowers in the eight-man boat.
While the Stonehurst Regatta is an important event in its own right, it also serves as good preparation for next weekend's highly coveted Head of the Charles Regatta, which is the biggest race of the fall season for both the heavyweight and lightweight crews.
The Head of the Charles draws crews from around the world, including Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada, not to mention a number of highly competitive crews from prominent rowing programs around the United States. Last year, the Dartmouth men's lightweight eights finished 13th of 23 crews in the race, and is looking to improve upon that finish this year.
The heavyweight team has similar aspirations.
"We are looking forward to going out and competing hard to see how well we can do," said Simmerman. "We just want to finish as high as we can."
