The fall crew season is not a time for perfection; instead, it is a time for trying new things, making mistakes and working out the kinks.
So while the men's crew may not have had many victories to speak of this season, that doesn't mean it didn't put together a successful autumn program.
"Fall rowing is all about taking good strokes in preparation for the spring season," senior co-captain Nahv Etedali said. "With every crew's focus being on the spring season, results in the fall make it hard to judge where you stand in relation to everyone else in the field.
"What it does allow you to see, though, are the improvements that you've made, and [those that you] still need to make," he continued. "Much of our work this fall centered on technique, and as a crew, we definitely built on our efficiency in the water. Our results were mixed, but the strong finishes of the [Varsity] Four [boat] at Quinsigamond and Head of the Charles were really important for our focus heading into winter training."
The team kicked off its fall slate at the Textile River Regatta on the Merrimack River in Lowell during the first weekend of October. The Jumbos raced three boats in the Regatta, with their top finish being sixth place out of ten boats in the Open Eight race. But there still remained much room for improvement as the boat finished with a time of 20:14, almost 90 seconds behind Worcester Polytechnic's winning time of 18:48. In the Open Four event, the Jumbos entered two boats, with their A team notching a modest 10th-place finish.
A week later, Tufts took to the water at the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta in Worcester with hopes of improving upon its cohesion in the boat and its recoveries.
"We've done some good work this fall with our swing, but we have much room for improvement still on our recoveries," Etedali said. "Swing refers to moving together, applying power together in the water and also recovering together as the boat runs on the water. If a crew doesn't recover together, they are creating force in the boat that opposes the motion they just created with the stroke. Also, the boat is most unstable during the recovery, and keeping it set allows for it to move more effectively and for rowers to have a more efficient and powerful catch."
The team entered two events at the Quinsigamond, the Open Four and the Open Eight, and made an exciting improvement in the Open Four, securing the No. 3 finish against 10 other teams. With a solid time of 15:26, the Tufts A boat was only 18 seconds behind Bowdoin's A boat that clocked in at 15:08 for the win. Tufts also fielded a pair of boats in the Open Eight, with a top finish of 12th place.
The Jumbos capped off their abbreviated fall schedule with a row down the Charles River, taking part in the renowned Head of the Charles Regatta on the weekend of Oct. 18-19. The team entered two boats in the 44th annual gathering, and the Open Four posted another encouraging effort, finishing in 17:50 for a 15th place finish out of 31 boats. The Jumbos also competed in the Open Eight but placed 37th in the event.
With the fall season behind them, the Jumbos will now move indoors to continue their rigorous training through the winter months. A crucial period of training for the crew, the winter schedule focuses on preparing physically for the sprint-style races in the spring.
"We are going to spend a lot of time this winter working on fitness and strength," senior co-captain Robbie Bayless said. "Since we can't get out on the water, we'll spend a lot of time on the machines and in the weight room. [That] should pay dividends come springtime."
"Winter training involves a lot of work on the erg [as well]," Etedali added. "We will be doing different types of workouts on the erg, all specific to different physiological states. Shorter, more intense interval work will help train [for] anaerobic fitness, while longer, less intense steady states will help our aerobic levels. Rowing a 2k requires a strong balance between the two of these. Weight training and long stretches will also be key to our success in the spring, training our muscles to both be powerful and capable of giving us more reach on the water."
Compared to the 2,000-meter contests in the spring, the fall head races feature considerably longer courses and require a much higher level of aerobic endurance. It is the time spent working through mistakes and the hard work put into preparing for these types of courses that should make the difference when Tufts hits the shorter, quicker races come spring.
"I think [the longer races] are a good opportunity to work on technique," Bayless said. "Little problems show up when you are rowing for twenty minutes and [can] become big problems [if not corrected], while in the spring you can muscle through them. If we can fix some of these problems in the fall, then hopefully we can be that much faster in the spring."
"They have helped us in building our aerobic bases, which is an essential part of the fitness required for a 2k, but more importantly they have helped us with our mental focus," Etedali added. "Racing is painful, and in rowing it is very important to not only train your body but also to train your mind so that you can continue to be technical and efficient even when your body is telling you to stop. Maintaining good technique at high stroke ratings and at high levels of fatigue is crucial to rowing a good race."
As the weather now turns cold and the rivers begin to ice over, spring suddenly doesn't feel so far off for the team. And it is the potential that lies ahead for the Jumbos that will drive the crew to work hard through the long winter months.
"We have a strong set of rowers on the team and some great coxswains," Etedali said. "With our success last spring -- the first varsity boat won gold at New Englands and bronze at ECACs, and the second varsity and novice boats both placed fifth at New Englands -- we hope to build on that and send all the boats that we send out on the water to the podium. With a strong winter training program and a high level of commitment on the team, we have a great [spring] season and some good racing to look forward to."
