After a couple weeks of tough practice and a modest showing at its first regatta of the fall a week earlier, the men's crew team came into Sunday's Quinsigamond Snake Regatta looking to put together a solid performance to build on in the future.
The Jumbos did just that, as they took third place out of 11 teams in the Open Four race and placed 12th out of 21 teams in the Open Eight event. In the four, the Jumbos finished 18 seconds behind first-place Bowdoin with a time of 15:26. In the Open Eight event, the team posted a 14:49 finish, 92 seconds behind WPI's A boat, which came in at 13:17.
Despite posting a performance that was by no means dominating, the Jumbos feel that they have made strides in preparation for the upcoming Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend in Cambridge.
"We came off of the water on Sunday definitely feeling like we had made a few improvements from last week's race … through practice this week," senior co-captain Nahv Etedali said. "Still, we've got some areas that need improvement and a few issues to work on for the Head of the Charles this weekend."
"I think it was a pretty good race and we were certainly pleased with the results," senior co-captain Robbie Bayless added. "We faced some different competition, especially in the Open Four, so there were some new, faster boats that we went up against that we hadn't seen before. Coming in third place was a pretty solid performance and it means we're getting closer to where we want to be."
After a couple of pedestrian finishes at the Textile River Regatta in their first races of the year, the Jumbos used the Lake Quinsigamond race to continue refining their skills as individual rowers, as well as to work on becoming a cohesive unit in the boat. Building on its current upward trend, the team hopes to be in top shape for the spring season.
"In the four, we got a little bit better power in our stroke this week," Etedali said. "The set also felt a little bit more organized," he continued, referring to the side-to-side balance of the boat. "It was definitely a good show after a week of hard practice."
"The guys who were in the Open Eight boat also rowed real well," Bayless said. "Even though their place wasn't as high [as the Four boat's finish], they finished much stronger than they started. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the rows heading into the upcoming weekend."
The disparity in Sunday's results between the finishes of the crew's four- and eight- man boats might appear to be a cause for concern, but the Jumbos remain confident in their approach of filling out the four boat with their top rowers.
"The four guys in the Open Four boat are the best four guys on the team," Bayless said. "At any given time, there are six guys who can be in the four, but whoever they may be, those guys are our fastest, top guys who will put together the best finish we can throw out there."
Still, some competitors take a different approach.
"In the eights, some teams, such as WPI or Bates for example, tend to focus more on filling those teams with their top guys first," Bayless said. "The competition is definitely different between the two races, and it was the level of competition [in the Open Four] and the level of our four guys in that boat that led to the top finish."
Coming into the Head of the Charles this weekend, the Jumbos have plenty to focus on in practice. The Charles River presents some unique challenges with difficult, tight turns and limited space available to navigate the course, as hundreds of boats will be competing.
"One of the things about the Charles is that the course is very complicated, especially for the coxswains," Etedali said. "There are many turns, and sometimes they can be extremely tough to navigate. Also, there are so many boats on the river at once, so that makes it even tougher to navigate. Our coxswain did a great job this past weekend, however, so that is another plus for us heading into the big race this weekend."
With solid coxswain work and the determined focus that the team has been putting into preparing for this weekend's regatta, expect nothing but the Jumbos' best effort in the renowned race.
"It's definitely one of the most exciting regattas we get to participate in the fall, and for that matter, all year round," Etedali said. "There is lots of anticipation building up to [this weekend's regatta], so we need to be concerned with staying focused in order to show everyone the work we've done so far this season. I expect us to have a good row, using all the improvements we've made, and show that we're looking pretty good for the spring."
