The waters were never quite calm enough for the men's crew team this season, as it encountered many rough patches and was unable to develop a successful rhythm throughout 2007.
After a big season-opening win against Boston College, the squad struggled with inconsistency, following up big victories with disappointing losses against theoretically weaker crews.
"A big obstacle we've continued to come across is a psychological one," senior captain Tim Pineau said. "We set ourselves up against some really good crews, and we've been competitive, but on off-days when we don't meet our expectations, we have trouble. It's disheartening, and it's taken its toll over the course of the season."
The team had hoped to get on track by the time it went to the Div. III New England Championships on May 5-6. The four-man boat competed decently, placing sixth overall, even though the rowers had only recently started competing together in a four.
"Considering the amount of practice time we had together, I think we did pretty well," Pineau said.
That Sunday, the first eight failed to match the four's success. After placing fourth in its heat, the eight-man boat struggled to a sixth-place finish in the Petite Finals, good for only a 12th-place finish overall.
"Our heat race was really close all down the course," Pineau said. "We were back and forth between third and fourth place all the way. We were really focused in the type of race where it's easy to get flustered. I was really proud of the guys for holding our own in that race."
But it wasn't so obvious what was lacking in the team's final race.
"It wasn't anything in particular," junior coxswain Faith Davis said. "But the crews we were up against were pretty strong, and we didn't row well enough technically to keep up with their power."
"If you don't have eight guys rowing together in unison, your performance as a boat is drastically different," Pineau said. "The margin of error is so small, and that's different from other sports. All season, we've focused too much on beating other crews and not on improving ourselves. When you do that, you can still row a bad race and still come out on top, but is that really a victory?"
As it turns out, New England Championships would be the team's final full race of the season. The ECAC National Invitational Championships, held last weekend in Whitney Point, N.Y., were cut short by excessive wind Sunday.
The varsity eight struggled in its first race of the weekend on May 12, finishing last in a six-crew field, and the Jumbos then finished last again in the semifinal round the next morning. After that race, however, inclement weather cut the event short, as the remaining Tufts boats never got a chance to compete.
With this spring's season in the books, it's time for the Tufts squad to look ahead to next season. And while the team's roster remains stacked with young talent - it entered this season with five juniors and nine sophomores - it will have to fill the void left by Pineau, who graduates today.
"I rowed for four years of high school, and then four years at Tufts," Pineau said. "It's been a huge part of my life, and I've made lots of sacrifices. Rowing comes with a lot of baggage, but thinking back on it, I definitely would do it again, because it's given me purpose and self-discipline. What I've gained far outweighs what I could have missed. I don't think I could give it up even if I wanted to."
Next year, Pineau will coach a youth team at the St. Louis Rowing Club, and will continue to row competitively through the club. The team has elected two new captains to replace Pineau - rising senior Matt Diffey and rising junior Nahvid Etedali.
This summer, seven members of the team plan to stay at Tufts to train for their race in Henley, England, from July 4-8. Tufts will send a pair, a four and one coxswain to race in Henley, at one of the world's premier courses.
