In an interesting and unforeseen turn of events for the women's crew on Saturday, the two fastest Jumbo marks against competition from Wesleyan, Wellesley and Bates were not posted by the first varsity rowers.
Battling harsh weather conditions and a vicious headwind on the Malden River, the Tufts second varsity boat clocked the best times for Tufts and beat out its counterparts from Bates and Wellesley in head-to-head matchups, notching times of 7:31.22 and 7:33.60 in those respective races. The third varsity eight and novice eight followed suit, dominating two more Bates vessels by 17.71 and 28.5 seconds, respectively.
"We thought that it was really good -- it was probably the best row we've had as a boat all season," said senior co-captain Kaitlyn Mula, who competed in the second varsity race. "We were very nervous about Bates because they had such a strong reputation among NESCAC schools, and it was one of those deals where we wanted to get out and stay out, which is usually the race plan, and it just wasn't happening.
"We didn't have the best start ever and were neck-and-neck with [Bates] up until 1,200 meters down, and then at the end we kicked up the rating," Mula continued. "We ended up sprinting and getting a boat-length on them in the end. We had to fight."
Meanwhile, the varsity eight could not find its rhythm, finishing its first race in 7:48.48 behind Wesleyan's 7:34.37. A slight improvement in the second race to 7:40.40 would not be enough to beat the varsity eight from Wellesley, who exacted vengeance over Tufts for the Blue's loss two weeks prior with a mark of 7:32.58.
"The conditions were pretty terrible, but that definitely doesn't account for all the differences, especially between the 2V and the varsity; they went off rowing right after us," senior co-captain Steph St. Thomas said. "It was a shock for the varsity especially after Thursday and Friday [which] were two of our best practices we've had all season, so we went into the race very confident and expecting to at least surprise some people.
"It just wasn't working for us," St. Thomas continued. "We can't put our finger on exactly what it was, but it might have just been one of those things where the stars were aligned the wrong way, and we just couldn't get it done."
The varsity eight had hoped to get a shot at the traditionally strong team from Bates -- the first boat from Lewiston, Maine trounced all competition with the fastest time of the day, finishing in 7:02.45 -- but the loss to Wesleyan denied the Jumbos that chance. And despite an eight-second improvement from its first effort, Tufts did not have enough to overcome the Blue in the subsequent matchup.
"I think we were a little bit shocked by the distance between the boats since we were trying to be competitive with Wesleyan," St. Thomas said. "We hoped to get out there and put up a good fight against Wellesley especially since we had just seen them, but I think we were pretty worn out from the first race, and we just couldn't get it back together."
"Wellesley was kind of out for blood this weekend," Mula added. "That last time we had raced them, they had just returned from their spring training the night before so they were pretty tired and not exactly rowing to their full potential, and this past weekend they really brought it to the table."
Still, the Jumbos took in a rewarding practice Monday morning, helping reaffirm their ability to bounce back from Saturday's first varsity disappointment while reflecting positively on the achievements of the second varsity through novice boats and the depth Tufts boasts.
"On the water and our reaction afterward, we were disappointed and surprised because we had such high expectations for ourselves which were warranted," St. Thomas said. "We had performed really well all week, but we know that it's not indicative of what we can do the rest of the season and we know that we can use it as good growing experience to see what we did wrong, how we can build from that ... We will see all of them again."
"Plus, revenge is the greatest motivation," Mula added.
Next week will serve as another key benchmark for the whole crew, which travels to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. for a two-day affair featuring rowers from Colby, Conn. College, Holy Cross and Ithaca on Saturday and RIT, Washington College, William Smith and WPI on Sunday. Taking place at the site of the New England Rowing Championships, the weekend's races will give the Jumbos ample time to acclimate to the waters.
"This is a really exciting weekend for us because Quinsigamond is where all the big races are later in the season," St. Thomas said. "It's great to get the practice for our coxswains and get everyone used to the course, know how it works, and it becomes like our second home court because we race there so often, which is good."
Once again, Tufts is keeping its options open with regard to the lineup in the first and second varsity boats. Changes to the rowers and seating in the two boats are nothing new for the team this spring, and the Jumbos see this as a testament of roster depth.
"We have a framework now," St. Thomas said. "The top 16 people that have been in the varsity and the 2V -- [coach Gary Caldwell] was talking [Monday] about how each of them has been at some point in time in the boat that went fastest -- so we at least know that we have a lot of magic between all 16 of us, and some days it's more about having personalities meshing and team dynamic rather than pure strength."
"It's a challenge because we're essentially interchangeable parts and so long as the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, we're going to be fine," Mula said. "It's just a matter of having the mental toughness to endure change-ups, and we're all working on that and by the end we'll be better for it."
