The men's crew team opened its spring season over the weekend, posting solid results in two home races at Malden River.
On Sunday, the varsity eight defeated a strong Tulane team, winning with a time of 6:33.70 to Tulane's 6:45.00. The day before, the Jumbos fared well in a competition with Tulane, Boston College, Williams, the University of Vermont and Harvard's freshman team. Tufts took first place in all three of the four-man boat races - varsity, second varsity and novice - in a confidence-boosting effort.
"It was a nice start," senior co-captain Matt Diffey said. "It was good to get out on the water and do some racing after training hard all winter. I felt like we raced hard, which was something I was looking for. There's still room for technical improvement, but I feel like the boats I was in put forth their full effort."
This year marked the first time since 2005 that the Jumbos defeated Tulane in their spring matchup. Tufts got off to a fast start in the 2,000-meter race, leading by one boat length early in the race. But the Green Wave fought back and were on the verge of catching Tufts heading into the first turn, 500 meters into the race. It was at that point that the Jumbos kicked it into high gear.
"We had a strong early-to-mid-race sprint," junior Robbie Bayless said. "You do 10 power strokes three different times per race, and we did one after the first 500 meters."
"After we made our move, it gave us the momentum, and it carried through the rest of the race," Diffey added. "It's always easier to row when you can see the other boat behind you."
The Jumbos benefited from racing on their home river. While the typical 2,000-meter spring race is a long straightaway, the Malden River course has two turns. Familiarity with the course gave Tufts' coxswains an advantage in steering the boats.
"I think it's always an advantage to compete where you practice every day," Bayless said. "Our course has some difficult turns, and our coxswains steered great races."
On Saturday, Tufts hosted a six-team competition consisting of seven races. Tufts recorded victories in all three of the fours races and finished with times of 6:43.30, 6:59.26 and 7:10.97, respectively, while UVM finished second in every varsity fours race. Williams won one of the varsity eights races with a time of 5:57.51, while Boston College won the other in 6:05.37.
The Harvard freshmen dominated the novice eights race, finishing more than 20 seconds ahead of their nearest competitor with a time of 5:40.86.
"It was exciting winning all three of the fours: varsity, second varsity and novice," junior co-captain Nahv Etedali said. "That's where we've put our emphasis. It was a promising start, and hopefully it gives us fuel for the rest of the season."
Next up for Tufts is a home race against Bates, Wesleyan and the University of New Hampshire.
"They're going to be tough races," Bayless said. "All three are strong opponents, particularly Wesleyan. UNH is a big school with a solid program, and Bates has beat us."
Despite this weekend's success, the team still feels it has plenty to work on in the coming weeks as it prepares for the New England Championships in early May.
"Against Williams, we were moving fast and rowing well in the first half of the race and then lost it," Etedali said. "So our aim is to work on finishing strong, which has always been an issue."
