Anyone trying to get into Boston this weekend could not have missed the excitement (and the traffic) around the Charles River. Not even grey skies and mist could put a cloud over the hoopla that unfolded as the Head of the Charles Regatta showcased some of the top crew talent in the country.
Despite the weather, the men's varsity crew team finished a sterling 18th out of 60 teams on Saturday with a time of 16:44.283. This time was good enough to guarantee Tufts a spot on the Charles next October. The men's junior varsity team also rowed this weekend, finishing 42nd out of 50 teams (17:22.859).
A top 20 finish is a huge accomplishment for a Div. III school like Tufts, as the regatta fielded teams from all three divisions of collegiate competition.
"I think we did quite well considering that the competition was very high and weather conditions were very tough," coach Jay Britt said. "We overcame quite a bit in terms of the obstacles in front of us."
The high finish illustrated how far the team has come since last year, especially when it comes to translating individual performance into a boat's success.
"Basically [the race] told me that these guys are learning how to be focused, learning how to be aggressive," Britt continued. "They are getting the concept of rowing as a team. It's about the individual effort and how it could be cohesively combined with the effort of the other eight people in the boat. They have an understanding of what an individual goal is and how to achieve that as a team."
Along with the weather, the Tufts team also had to deal with a long layover from competitive action. With the cancellation of the New Hampshire Championships on Oct. 15 due to flooding, the team has been out of action since the Textile River Regatta on Oct. 2.
While the extended hiatus from competition can find a team out of sync upon its return, the Tufts coaching staff prepared the team for this weekend the same way they do for every regatta and did not see any negative effects in the team's performance on the water.
"I think generally our student-athletes handled it quite well," said Gary Caldwell, the Tufts Director of Rowing and coach of the women's team. "The coaching staff did have concerns on how the athletes would react with the layoff, but their response was extremely positive. They performed up to the level of our expectations and, on some levels, exceeded our expectations."
In addition to inclement weather and a long break from action, the team ran quite literally into some more immediate bad luck on the water. The junior varsity boat collided with another boat during the race, losing valuable time and throwing the boat off rhythm. While the stroke man was nearly hit by an oar, freshman Artie Zeckendorf actually did suffer a blow to the chest and nearly fell out of the boat. He was pulled back in.
Despite the boat's relatively low finish, Britt was impressed that the team stayed focused and finished the race.
"These guys were looking for some identity and they found a piece of their identity this weekend," he said. "I think both our coxswains, [sophomores] Ian Davis and Amy Rodgers, did a tremendous job. We had two freshman, Artie [Zeckendorf] and Mike Conroy, going in three seed in varsity. They also did tremendous job. [Sophomore] Eugenui Sibru and [senior tri-captain] John Papp, everybody in the boat really stepped up."
The Fall NESCAC-NERC Novice Championships this Saturday will round off the fall schedule and offer the Tufts team a chance to add even more experience as it looks ahead to the spring season.
