On April 20, the women’s rowing team finished their regular season on a high note on senior day, defeating regional opponents Rhode Island University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst in all 10 races at Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vt.
The women’s team will compete again on May 5 at the Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Mass.
The Big Green took on the University of Rhode Island Rams beginning at 7 a.m., sweeping all 10 races and winning the Varsity Eight with a time of 7:07.06. In the Second Varsity Four, Dartmouth A and Dartmouth B both beat URI with times of 8:33.79 and 8:45.28, respectively.
For senior day — a day that celebrates the team’s seven graduating seniors— friends and family came out in droves to support the team with cow bells, posters and an “exciting” energy among the fans, rower Morgan Kendall ’25 said.
“It was really cool because in the last 250 meters of the race you could hear everybody cheering for you,” Kendall said. “It’s an external motivating factor that you don’t get on some courses, so that was really special.”
Senior captain Katherine Figura ’24 said the team has been preparing for the races the entire year.
“In the fall we have longer races, and then in the winter the Connecticut River is frozen over, and we do a lot of conditioning and aerobic work,” Figura said.
She added that New Hampshire’s cold winter weather means the Dartmouth team has to be “as efficient as possible” when practicing in warm weather, since teams in warmer climates have more time on the water.
Women’s rowing head coach John Graves said the race was a valuable experience for the team’s remaining spring schedule.
“This was our third race of the season and definitely a chance for us to continue to put the pieces together as we approach our championship season,” he said.
Kendall said the unique shape of Lake Morey, where narrow water only allows two boats to compete at a time, forced Dartmouth to compete against URI and UMass-Amherst in different races.
“We normally race once in a day, but this was a really good practice round because when you get to bigger, more important regattas like Eastern Sprints and the Ivy Championship, you can race twice within the same day with the first heat and the final,” Kendall said.
Jenna Martin ’24 described the seniors’ involvement in the races.
“There was actually one senior in each boat, with one in the 1V, 2V, 3V, 1V4, 2V four and 3V four,” Martin said.
The team had Martin in the 1V, Audrey Craighead ’24 and fifth-year senior captain Haley Leversedge ’23 in the 2V, Figura in the 1V4, Christine Wu ’24 in the 3V and Lillian Leimkuhler ’24 in the 3V4.
Figura said the senior class has imparted their four years of “wisdom” onto their teammates, which has been especially valuable given that Graves’s appointment as head coach was less than a year ago.
“I think we’ve been able to see what’'s working well with our new coach, and we can just lead other members of the team and make sure everyone’s having fun and appreciating being there,” Figura said.
Sam Paisley ’25 said the more seasoned members of the team had an impact on the group both on and off the water.
“I think something the seniors do a really good job of is making everybody on the team feel included,” Paisley said. “Every day we practice and every day we race, they just know how to lift you up, and that in itself is a very special thing to have on a team.”
Kendall added that she has learned from the example the senior class has set.
“I really look up to them because they’ve been through a lot with COVID and multiple coaching changes, and I think that their ability to not let any of that faze them or their leadership abilities is really inspiring,” she said. “They’ve set a really good precedent for our team.”
Figura, who is set to end her Dartmouth rowing career in less than two months, said she believes “the team is moving in a really great direction.”
“Rowing is just such a bonding experience that I think is really hard to replicate in other areas of life, so I’m going to miss everything about the team,” Figura said.
