Coming off of a successful 2003 season, the Tufts women's crew team will have both depth and experience in its favor as it aims to ascend the ranks of the NESCAC this year.
While the fall season is used mainly in preparation for the more competitive spring events, the Jumbos are taking this fall very seriously in an effort to place themselves in a position from which they will be able to compete for the NESCAC championship.
Steering them in this effort will be program director and varsity coach Gary Caldwell. Caldwell has headed the Tufts crew program for the last 11 years, at various times coaching the men's varsity, women's novice, and women's varsity teams, depending on the current availability of other coaches.
For the last several years, Caldwell has coached the women's novice teams while Jessica Norman coached the women's varsity. Norman's current pregnancy means that Caldwell will be coaching the varsity women this year.
Anna Lindgren-Streicher will be coaching the novice team along with Maggie Denes. Both are former members of the Tufts crew team themselves.
Caldwell describes last year's women's results as mixed.
"There were [moments] of success," Caldwell said. "Four women won silver at nationals, so the top of our program was successful, and both novice eights medaled at the [New England Rowing Championships] ... but there was a lack of depth at the varsity level."
This year's team certainly seems to have remedied that problem. The varsity squad features an array of talent that will allow it to start out the season with three varsity eight boats and several additional rowers.
The team features fourteen sophomores who return from last year's medaling novice boats, as well as several juniors and a strong senior contingent, several of whom are returning from junior semesters abroad and will greatly contribute to the team. Two such rowers are Lizzie Martin and co-captain Ashley Korb. The varsity squad will also include three freshmen rowers.
While the team has only had ten days in the water, Caldwell is more concerned with the overall progress of the rowers than with the number of practices in the boats.
"We have a very limited preseason, but it's a long year and the primary focus is on the spring season," Caldwell said. "All of us, euphemistically, are in the same boat. Our chief competition has had eight or nine days in the water too."
Caldwell's main goal for the fall will be to maintain the depth that enables the team to go with three varsity eights. He will also look to instill the type of work ethic that will keep the team pushing during the three month break between the fall and spring seasons. The coach is confident that this group will be able to achieve that type of attitude.
"We need to try to create an environment where they know the work that needs to be done and accept that challenge," Caldwell said. "I feel very strongly that this group of varsity athletes will be successful. They're very motivated from the top to the bottom."
One key for the team to continue to improve will be the performance of the sophomore rowers during their transition to the varsity unit from the freshman novice team. Senior co-captain Loi Sessions is confident that the group will step up.
"We've all gone through it, and this year's group is doing a great job focusing just on progressing as rowers and making [their boats] faster," Sessions said. "They are a huge part of the team's strength."
While the team has had limited practice and may not have set crews for each boat throughout the fall, they feel confident heading into the season.
"We're just now getting to the point of thinking about racing," sophomore Katie Saville said. "Initially you're thinking about technical stuff, but now we're at the point where we're really getting back into [a racing mode]."
Sessions shares Saville's confidence.
"We have arguably more depth than ever before," the captain said. "In practice we have been rowing in boats with a mix of experience, and the boats have felt good with a variety of combinations."
With abundant depth and leadership, Tufts seems to be putting together the ingredients for a highly successful season. The Jumbos open up their four-race-long fall season this Sunday at the Lowell Textiles regatta.
