The Tufts crew teams hosted Bates, Wesleyan, and UNH this past Saturday once again racing on the Malden River. The men's crew team defeated both Bates and Wesleyan, while the women's team lost both races.
Racing in back-to-back sprints, the men's varsity eight left no doubt that it is a talented squad. At the midpoint of its season, it remains undefeated with a record of 5-0. Leading up to this meet, the Jumbos had a string of decisive victories about which to boast. This weekend was no exception.
In the first race, Tufts and Bates ran neck and neck from the start. Going through the bridge, Tufts implemented a series of ten high pressure strokes called power tens, a move that pushed them slowly into the lead. By the second turn on the course, they were a half a boat length in the lead. This gap grew to more than a boat length by the final 500 meters. At this point the coxswains, sophomore Courtney Keefe and senior Mike Friedberg, the front seat (stroke) of the boat, made the decision not to go into the sprint sequence at the end of the race. Tufts cruised across the finish line with a final time of 5:49.3, eight seconds ahead of Bates.
"Normally we go into our sprint sequence with about 400 meters left to go in the race," Friedberg said. "However my coach had advised us not to do it if we were more than a boat length ahead, which we were. We knew we were going to have to turn right around and race again and so it was better to save up strength for the next race."
Since the Malden River can only accommodate one-on-one racing, the Jumbos were going to race the winner of the Wesleyan-UNH match up. Wesleyan was predicted to be the fastest boat that Tufts would face this weekend, and it lived up to its reputation, easily defeating UNH.
When Tufts raced Wesleyan, the Cardinals jumped out of the start quicker, taking a couple of seats on the Jumbo's boat, a lead they maintained until the bridge. At this point, the Jumbos began to creep up on them. The team took a couple of power tens, firing themselves up and evening up the race by the first turn of the course. By the second turn the Jumbos took the lead, and they never looked back.
"The last part of the race is a straight shot," Friedberg said. "This part of the race is a strength for us. For many crews, the second and third 500 meters is their weakest part, but we did a lot of training over the winter to ensure that it was strong."
By the last 400 meters, Tufts had increased the gap to three-quarters of a boat length. The Jumbos sealed the victory during the sprint sequence, winning the race by four seconds (5:51.5).
"We had made a pact to ourselves before the race to commit to a power ten at the 1000 meter mark and take control of the race," Friedberg said. "We executed those tens and took a bunch of seats, making sure to win."
Unfortunately, the women's crew team was unable to continue its successes from last weekend. Plagued by a bad start in its first race against Wesleyan, the women's varsity eight were unable to recover. The problem occurred when the race started in a rush due to extreme choppiness at the beginning of the race.
"We had a really sketchy start," sophomore Liz Richardson said. "Due to the wind and choppiness, the race had to start quickly and the boat just wasn't ready. One girl didn't even have her oar in hand."
Wesleyan was able to capitalize on the mistake and jump out ahead of the Jumbos. However, under the strong leadership of coxswain sophomore Bess Dopkeen, the Jumbos were able to recover from their rocky start.
"Bess plays a huge roll in recovering from our mistakes," Richardson said. "She has a confidence that is communicated throughout the entire boat. Her leadership is the reason we recovered so well from our start."
Unfortunately Wesleyan was a stronger team in both size and experience. The Cardinals capitalized on the Jumbos' error and never relinquished their initial lead. The Jumbos lost the race, crossing the line with a time of 6:53.6.
The varsity eight's next competition was against Bates. Unfortunately, Tufts was at a severe disadvantage; the team was competing in its second race of the day, while Bates was at full strength, having yet to compete. Despite this, the Jumbos managed to keep the race close. They were even with Bates up to the halfway point of the course. At this point, fatigue set in and Bates was able to pull away. The Jumbos lost by eight seconds (6:51.9).
"Due to this being the second race, we were tired much sooner in the race than we were used to," Richardson said. "Bates had the edge, not having raced yet. I'm proud of the team though. We fought hard and stuck it out."
The women's varsity four raced in the form of a second varsity eight against Wesleyan, comprised of five varsity rowers and three novice rowers. In a close race to the finish, the Jumbos ultimately lost by a slim margin of three seconds in a time of 7:00.0.
The women's varsity eight at this point in the season holds a record of 1-2 for the season while the varsity four are 1-1. This week in training, the team will be focusing on the basics. They particularly want to strengthen the togetherness of the team and the unison of their movements in the water.
This weekend the crew teams will be traveling to Worcester to compete against Holy Cross, Ithaca, and Connecticut College. The women's team is expecting a challenge from Connecticut College, while the men's team's major threat of ending their undefeated record is Holy Cross.
