Dartmouth's rowing teams had a challenging weekend, as all three programs went up against some of the top teams in the nation on Saturday.
The sixth-ranked Dartmouth women's first varsity team posted the Big Green's best results, ultimately losing a fast race to second-ranked Princeton. The Big Green first varsity boat finished in 5:35, seven seconds behind Princeton, but good enough for a 3.5-second advantage over the University of Pennsylvania in Hanover.
The second varsity race had similar results, with Dartmouth rowing a 5:45.8, almost a second behind Princeton but six seconds faster than Penn.
The order remained the same in the novice race, as Dartmouth came in at 6:01.7, eight seconds behind Princeton and one second quicker than Penn.
Despite the losses to Princeton, head coach Wendy Levash was impressed by the way her team held together, especially given such a strong current on the Connecticut River.
"I was psyched that the first varsity was able to recover from a really rocky first 750 meters," Levash said. "They were down pretty far off the start but were able to recover and race pretty well."
With all the boats racing strong in the second half of their races, Levash's plan is to focus on the start sequences in this week's practices to try to put together a more complete race next week. She added that at this point in the season, coaches want to work with a stable lineup. She said she feels confident that there would be few personnel changes for the rest of the season.
This was the first home race for Dartmouth's women's crew, which will remain in Hanover next weekend to host Cornell for the Parents' Cup.
"We were really excited to race at home," Levash noted. "We were happy with the way we raced down the course, and now we know what we need to improve."
Meanwhile, the No. 16 Dartmouth heavyweights were swept by top-ranked Brown in Providence, R.I.
Dartmouth's first varsity boat finished in 6:02.27, falling to Brown by 19 seconds. The second varsity finished its race in 6:10.53, coming in 11 seconds behind Brown's second varsity B boat and 22 seconds behind Brown's second varsity A boat.
Dartmouth's freshmen heavyweight crew finished its race in 5:59.12, eight seconds behind Brown's freshmen.
"The varsity results are as much a reflection of the Brown crew being a very, very strong crew," head coach Topher Bordeau said. "I would say that they are one of the best boats in the country. It's always really exciting to test your speed against the best and that was certainly the case today."
Bordeau believed that the margin between the boats this week masked the progress the team has made since last week's disappointing performance, noting that both varsity boats had performances they should be proud of.
The Dartmouth freshmen were once again the bright spot of the day for the heavyweights. They jumped out to an early lead on Brown's freshmen, and Bordeau was excited by how hard the team tried to protect its lead, though they were not able to hold on to the race.
The heavyweights will not have a chance to ease up this week, as they will host the No. 2 Wisconsin team in Hanover.
"It's definitely a tough two-week stretch," Bordeau admitted. "But we embrace that. We'll continue to tinker with personnel, as we have throughout the season. The good thing about the race we just had is that there are a couple points that seem to be strong, and a couple of things we still need to figure out."
The lightweights did not fare well either this weekend, as the Big Green was swept by top-ranked Yale in all four of its races in Hanover.
Dartmouth's varsity eight boat got off to a strong start in its race, but Yale made up the deficit in the body of the race and completed a five-second victory with a time of 5:07.9.
The Big Green's second varsity eight boat was neck-and-neck against Yale throughout the race, but the Bulldogs picked it up in the final sprint to edge out the Big Green by half of a second. Yale rowed a 5:11.8, while Dartmouth came through the finish in 5:12.3.
Yale won handily in the other two races, as the Bulldogs' third varsity won by over 14 seconds and Yale's freshmen eights cruised to a 16-second victory.
All three teams will compete at home next week -- the heavyweights will host Wisconsin for the Cochrane Cup, the women's team will welcome Cornell for the Parents' Cup, and the lightweights will also take on Cornell in the Baggaley Bowl.
