The Occoquan Challenge is a head race. After a staggered start, the teams are timed individually. Dartmouth kept up with Navy's lead eight until the closing meters of the race, when Navy made a strong move to the finish line and pulled away from the Big Green. Navy finished in 13:33.7, while Dartmouth fell back to 14:06.5.
The second Dartmouth boat took sixth in the championship eight race while Navy took third and fifth. Georgetown finished in fourth place.
"I thought the day was a great experience for our first race of the year. Both our eights put together solid pieces against talented competition. It was a good opportunity to gauge where we are and work off our results to prepare for the remainder of our fall races," head coach Steve Perry said.
Along with competing in the championship eight race, the lightweight crew took part in the championship four race with three boats. The Dartmouth men placed fifth with a time of 15:46.7, eighth at 16:00.4 and 15th in 16:49.3. Navy won the race with a time of 15:30.4 and took second with 15:40.1. The coxed four man boats were not the focus of the weekend or season but provided an opportunity to practice in a competitive situation.
"It was a great opportunity to get another race situation under our belts and rub paint with a lot of boats," Perry said.
In addition to challenging the fitness of the rowers so early in the season, the Occoquan Challenge Regatta also put coxswains to the test. The course the crews rowed along were winding and difficult to navigate. The course opened and closed with S-turns and included a 180 degree turnaround at the midpoint of the race. The coxswains, who both encourage the rowers and steer the boats, had a large impact on their boats' success.
"Both of our coxswains [Joe Politi '08 and Dana Silberstein '08] negotiated the turn well," captain Will Suto '07 said.
The first race of the season was an encouraging start for the program, and the team is trying to build upon last season's successes.
"We have three weeks to prepare for our next race ... we hope to find more speed during that time," Suto said.
The lightweights will next see action at the Head of the Charles Regatta on the weekend of October 21. All three Big Green rowing teams will compete at the event, the largest two day regatta in the world.
