Going into this weekend's Head of the Charles race, men's crew coach Jay Britt stressed that all he was looking for from his team was for them to come away knowing they'd put forth their best effort.
And in an impressive comeback performance, the varsity four-man boat more than exceeded these expectations.
Despite starting last in a field of 31 crews Saturday, the four used the extra open water to its advantage, passing two crews during the race and nearly passing a third along the way to a 15th-place finish in a very competitive field.
"Coming off the water, I knew that we'd rowed pretty hard," senior co-captain Matt Diffey said. "We were booking it the first part of the race. We went out a bit too fast [at the start], but I'd rather have that than have us be saving something at the end."
"We were out there without anyone behind us, and we knew we had to pass boats," junior co-captain Nahv Etedali said. "There were lots of moments where you could feel all four of us applying pressure together. Our first split times were right there with the top boats out there. We were able to stay competitive with the top boats, and that bodes well for the spring [season]."
The Jumbos were aided by critical navigation from junior coxswain Vanessa Garcia, who moved over from the women's team just two weeks ago.
"Vanessa handled all the turns, steered a great course and handled everything she needed to," Diffey said. "She was like a pro out there."
Both Garcia and freshman Josh Aschheim, who raced with the eight, attended a coxswains' clinic on Friday designed to help coxswains learn the best way to steer the Head of the Charles course.
"Vanessa was able to steer the course in exactly the way we'd talked about," Britt said.
With the implementation of a new training regimen and two successful races under their belts, the Jumbos were happy with their performance in the race, by far their biggest event of the fall season.
"We didn't know what to expect at all going into this season, and any good results that we get, we're happy for," Diffey said. "There's a huge confidence boost that comes from knowing that everyone on the team is putting in the same amount of work as you. There are no excuses this year; no one wants to be the guy that lets the rest of the team down."
Unfortunately for the Jumbos, the success of the four this season has yet to translate to the eight, which finished last in a field of 42 crews Sunday.
"We started off a little too excited when we really needed more focus," senior Jake Mandel said. "We got passed by a couple of crews and didn't focus enough on what we were doing. Though we had a lot of power, we didn't apply it together. We were also rushing on our slide [a part of the stroke]."
The eight's lack of success on Sunday likely has to do with the unit's inexperience, as the Head of the Charles, with its 250,000 spectators lining the shores, difficult turns and crowded river leave little room for error. Nevertheless, the experience gained upon completion of the difficult course will only help Aschheim and the eight in the future.
Although the Jumbos were happy with how they measured up against their opponents in what is arguably the world's most competitive rowing event, the team knows that much remains to be done before the spring season.
"There was good competition in the field [at Head of the Charles]," Britt said. "It puts us in good position going into this spring, but we still have work to do."
