Dartmouth men's heavyweight crew continued its unbelievable season with yet another impressive finish at last Sunday's Eastern Sprints Regatta on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.
For the first time since 1994, the first varsity boat medaled in the grand final, taking home the bronze in a time of 6:10.61. Powerhouses Harvard and Wisconsin placed first and second with times of 6:04.1 and 6:08.84, respectively.
Harvard dominated much of the race and eventually separated itself from the group, while both Wisconsin and Dartmouth fought for second place with fifth-seeded Dartmouth coming up just short of Wisconsin for the second time that day. In the early morning heat, the Big Green varsity also finished behind Wisconsin, with the Big Green taking second in a time of 5:57.08.
As varsity rower Thomas Schenck '03 described, "We got all our nerves out in the morning heat, where we rowed a really aggressive, but not necessarily smart race. In the afternoon we were able to just relax and really row our own piece. I think we put together our best piece of the season in the afternoon, so were all pleased with the result."
Second varsity rower Jared Klarquist '03 commended the efforts of the varsity boat and certainly agreed that the team should be pleased with such an accomplishment.
"Placing third at the Eastern Sprints is a very big deal for Dartmouth, who doesn't have a long history of high placement," Klarquist said.
"Medaling this weekend was particularly amazing for the four seniors in the varsity boat [Dirk Blum, Jay Conner, Jaime Velez, and Schenck], who placed 14th at Sprints their freshman year. I doubt anyone who didn't know them really well could have predicted such a turnaround."
In second varsity action, Dartmouth placed sixth in the grand final with a time of 6:46.9 after a strong performance in its heat, taking second in a time of 6:03.33.
"The second varsity had a very solid race in their heats, beating four crews including Brown and Northeastern to make the Grand Finals," Bryan Bollinger '03 reported.
Following the impressive performance in the heats, the second boat was slightly disappointed that strong headwinds inhibited its performance.
"In the finals, we didn't race to our potential, allowing the strong headwind to dramatically affect our rowing, an effect magnified by having a very unsheltered lane," Bollinger said.
As for the novice rowers, the first freshman eight took third in the third-level final in a time of 7:08.95.
After the strong performances last weekend, Big Green rowers look forward to the National Championships, where they hope their increasingly impressive showings continue.
Schenck noted, "Judging by how much speed we've gained on Wisconsin since we raced them last week, I think we'll be looking to knock them and a couple more crews off at the National Championships."
Bollinger also spoke of good things to come for the second boat when he commented, "We are happy with our results though, and believe we can gain even more speed before nationals."
Dartmouth's heavyweight rowers return to action on May 18 at Syracuse.
