With losses to Yale and Boston University, Dartmouth women's crew had a difficult time battling high winds and white-capped waves on Boston's Charles River this past Saturday. The first varsity and first novice boats both lost to Yale, and only the first novice came out on top of BU.
Due to the severity of the conditions, the second and third varsity boats only raced a 1500-meter piece -- 500 meters shorter than the standard race -- on a calmer part of the river, and the second novice did not race at all.
Despite a 30-second loss to Yale and a 19-second loss to BU, Dartmouth's first varsity boat was pleased with the aggression with which it raced and battled the conditions. The rowers began up on BU during the first 500 meters of the race, but they were unable to defend themselves against BU's move at the end of the first quarter.
"I think we just need a little more practice being ahead of someone early, so we can shut them down when they try to make a move," said Kate Murphy '02, co-captain and rower in the first varsity boat. "We were all being aggressive, and since you can't teach that, it's a good thing we're starting from there."
The first novice boat had a difficult race but remained positive through the adverse conditions. The boat almost swamped with the incoming waves, and five-seat's sliding seat fell off its tracks in the last 400 meters, leaving her only able to row half of each stroke.
"We were a little disappointed, just because we felt we didn't get a fair shot at Yale," said Susie Dain-Owens '05, stroke of the first novice. "We won't race them again until Eastern Sprints, but we'll be really fired up to race them in better conditions."
After the first novice race, the rest of the races were postponed or cancelled. The second varsity group, after warming up and arriving at the starting line, was sent back to the docks to dump the water out of its boats, get back in, and return to the water for a 1300-meter piece further down the river. They lost to Yale and BU in this shortened race but, considering the conditions, didn't take the loss too seriously.
"Despite our losses the past two weekends, people are staying very positive and focused," said Elizabeth Badger '02, co-captain and rower in the second varsity. "I'm pretty confident that we can turn things around. We're all psyched to put a lot of things together in practice this week and really perform this weekend."
After a difficult weekend, women's crew is eagerly looking forward to what it expects to be stellar performances against Radcliffe and Syracuse next weekend.
"We're ready to show everyone what we've been doing out here in the middle of nowhere," Murphy said. "I would be very afraid if I were Radcliffe or Syracuse."