The Dartmouth women took 12th in the women's championship eights race; the men's lightweights took ninth in the lightweight fours race and 25th in the lightweight eights race; and the men's heavyweights took 40th in the championship eights race.
In the head race format, women's crew managed to pass three boats and catch up to a fourth. The team took 10th among the collegiate rowing teams with a time of 16:40.2. The U.S. Rowing Princeton Training Ctr. boat came in first with a time of 15:36.7.
Without a great deal of practice together, the men's lightweight four boat finished in 17:53.1, putting them in ninth place out of 14 boats. The Ottawa Rowing Club came in first with a time of 16:46.9.
The lightweight eight boat took 25th out of 26 with an official time of 16:29.8, slowed by a minute penalty for interference against another boat. Without the penalty, they would have placed 14th. The first place team, the Canada Rowing crew, finished with a time of 14:28.6.
The men's heavyweights finished with a time of 15:53.7 in the championship eight race which put them in 40th place out of 44 teams. Finishing with a time of 14:09.7, the U.S. Rowing Princeton Training Ctr. team came in first.
With favorable weather for rowing and thousands of spectators lining the banks, the Head of the Charles Regatta was buzzing with energy over the weekend.
With the large number of boats on the water, twists and turns in the course and bridges made maneuvering a very important aspect of the racing. Unfortunately for the heavyweights, the crew was forced to stop rowing in order to avoid colliding with the Elliot Bridge and impeding another crew.
"It became clear just before the bridge that they couldn't keep rowing without obstructing the other crew (which would have resulted in a one-minute penalty) or risking a collision with the bridge," heavyweight coach Topher Bordeau said.
"They had to stop rowing for a decent amount of time to correct their course. Up to that point the guys felt that they were having a decent race. It's unfortunate and disappointing that they weren't able to finish it off, but we'll look for a better performance next weekend at the Princeton Chase."
A boat from Peking University's team actually sank after suffering damage following a collision with another crew team.
The lightweight four boat had a good race and was able to pass Rutgers and another crew at the start of the race. The lightweight eight boat had less success, having difficulty passing Rutgers and having to row in the boat's wake for the majority of the race.
"I think the varsity eight had a lackluster performance and found themselves in a difficult situation with the crews around them," head coach Steve Perry said. "Ultimately, considering our subpar piece and the 1:00 penalty we were assessed for interference on the Dutch crew passing us, I think the outing was disappointing."
The intense atmosphere was a factor for the young women's crew team, which was missing the majority of its juniors due to off terms, and was competing for the first time this season. The women's boat was comprised of three seniors, one junior, three sophomores and one freshman.
To complicate matters further, their starting position was second to last out of 46 teams, which put stress on their coxswain, Laura Bozzuto '07, to steer around many boats. Fortunately for women's crew, Bozzuto did a good job maneuvering through the course and handling the turmoil of the massive regatta.
"We had a very strong race ... and we beat out Brown and Radcliffe which is a big accomplishment for us," women's team captain Anne Kennedy '07 said.
Kennedy's sentiments on the race were echoed by her coach, Wendy Levash.
"This was a good first race for our varsity eight," Levash said. "We were hoping to be closer to Princeton, Yale and the University of Virginia, but were pleased to have put together a solid piece. We are looking forward to getting to work again this week and finding more speed."
Even coach Perry competed this weekend in the international racing circuit, placing 45th in the men's club singles, despite having taken several years off.
Next weekend all of the crews will be competing at the Princeton Chase.
"We are looking forward to racing down at Princeton next weekend which should give us a good assessment of where we are in terms of the other Eastern Sprints schools going into the winter," men's lightweight commodore Jon Kroft '07 said.
