Despite a runner−up finish, the women's crew team found no trophies or plaques awaiting it for its efforts at the Green Mountain Head Regatta in Putney, Vt., on Sunday.
Instead, at the Jumbos' relatively casual season−opening regatta, sophomore Ali Maykranz and her sister, senior Kaylee, finished second in the six−boat, open−age race in 3:25:10 and were awarded a gallon of apple cider at the finish line for their success, in addition to the homemade doughnuts and Vermont cheese that awaited all competitors.
"[The Maykranzes] are amazing rowers, so we were expecting them to do well," senior tri−captain Rachel Steward said. "But it's always awesome when one of the boats wins something."
Tufts entered four singles and four doubles as it began its fall season at the Dummerston Boat Landing on the Connecticut River, racing in an event open to scullers of all ages.
Three other Tufts pairs also participated in the open−age race: seniors Barbara Franco and Lindsay Hull, senior Caccy Bowlus and sophomore Caroline Patterson and senior Katherine Rosenblatt and junior Erika Parisi. Those tandems finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
In a 17−boat singles race for ages 19 to 34, the tri−captains Steward, junior Kathleen Holec and senior Bianca Velayo occupied the 12th through 14th spots, respectively, with only 12 seconds separating their three times.
This was the first singles competition of the season for all three tri−captains, and it was far from an easy introduction: The field was skilled, and the course ran three miles long.
"I think that it was a nice experience for everyone," Steward said. "Just finishing the race on its own was great."
Many of Tufts' rowers entered the regatta with little or no experience in sculling, where each rower uses two oars, so it provided a good opportunity to practice a skill that coach Brian Dawe continues to emphasize in his second year with the team. While the NCAA qualifying races in the spring are sweeping (one−oar), sculling comes in handy in the fall.
"Sculling is a great way to build technique, build power and work on balance," Velayo said. "You're able to be in smaller boats — one−person, two−person boats — versus eight−person boats, which is what we do in the spring."
The regatta was a far cry from the typical collegiate crew event. The Jumbos were one of the few collegiate teams present, and there was a wide array of competitors, from an 80−year−old man to members of the Australian National team.
The Jumbos appreciated the low−key atmosphere as it gave them a chance to ease back into racing, practice a new method and not worry too much about the results.
"We've only been out on the water for three weeks, and then we had to race competitively," Velayo said. "So it was a really nice opportunity to learn to row again, be competitive and practice and see where it can take us."
"It was very different from a lot of the regattas that we participate in, especially Head Regattas, because they're so big," Steward added. "But because this was only sculling events, it was a [much] smaller scale."
This weekend, the Jumbos will send the rowers who did not compete on Sunday to the Textile River Regatta in Lowell, Mass., where they will race quads, doubles and singles boats. Once again, the focus will largely be on refining their sculling abilities.
"Most of the girls really don't have any sculling experience, so that's what we're building on right now," Velayo said. "I think that it's really going to help us when we go to sweep rowing because the same principles that you apply with the stroke in sculling, you can transfer over to sweeping."
Meanwhile, the Green Mountain Head participants are preparing for the squad's first sweeping regatta, the Head of the Charles, on Oct. 23−24.
"We're just trying to play around with some boatings and start reacquainting ourselves with sweeping so we can start putting together some fast boats," Velayo said.
