The women's crew team competed against rowers from around the world this weekend at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, racing a Club Four and a Collegiate Four on Saturday and a Collegiate Eight and a Lightweight Four on Sunday.
The Jumbos hoped to finish in the top half of each race in order to secure spots in next year's Head of the Charles, but there were simply too many powerful, experienced teams standing in their way.
"Honestly, it's a little upsetting that we didn't regain any of our bids for next year," senior tri−captain Bianca Velayo said. "Everyone was really working together, and everyone's timing was fantastic. This is a really tough event — it's the most difficult course in the world."
Tufts' first race was the Club Fours, in which the Jumbos started in bow 26 out of 51 and finished 29th with a time of 21:47. Tufts placed 10th out of 17 collegiate teams, with St. Mary's College of California and Villanova University the only colleges in the top 10.
In the Collegiate Fours, the Jumbos accomplished their goal of maintaining their starting spot, starting and finishing 18th out of 30 with a 22:07 time, though the time was again not fast enough to qualify for next year's race. Emory University took first place, finishing in 20:34.
On Sunday, an interference penalty spoiled Tufts' effort in the Collegiate Eights, causing the Jumbos to slide from their starting spot of 25th to 31st out of 31 boats. The boat had a new rudder to help execute tight turns, but after a smooth start, the Jumbos were unable to sidestep a collision at a tight turn at Weeks Bridge as they battled Mercyhurst College (Pa.) for position. It was determined that Tufts failed to yield to the Mercyhurst boat, and therefore one minute was added to their 18:42 finish time.
"It was kind of a stunning moment in the race," senior tri−captain Rachel Steward said. "Everything slowed down, and we tried to pull ourselves back together and get back in the race, but we didn't quite get back into things until we had gone past the Eliot Bridge and were in the last 750 meters.
"Crashes happen, and I think that we did well to recover from what can be really shocking to a lot of crews," she added. "I think this is just going to help us move toward understanding that we have a lot of work to do over the winter, and hopefully, this will be one thing that pushes us to work harder."
Last up for Tufts was the Lightweight Four, for which the team had high expectations despite limited knowledge of what their competition would be. As it turned out, the field was incredibly strong, and three boats broke the Charles's Women's Lightweight Fours record that had stood since 1992. Yet Tufts still had an excellent showing, easily beating their 2009 time of 21 minutes with a 19:19 mark, finishing fourth out of six college squads.
"We obviously wanted to place, and that didn't happen, but another one of our goals was to break 20 minutes, and we shattered that goal," junior tri−captain Kathleen Holec said. "The field was just particularly fast this year, but there was nothing that we did wrong."
Since the Jumbos last week were able to row on the Head of the Charles course, which is known for being merciless, they had a leg up this weekend.
"I think our coxswains knew where they were going and were more comfortable than other crews overall, because while we were racing we knew where we were and how much we had left in the race," Holec said.
But even with the added experience, the Jumbos were not able to ensure any bids for the 2011 race. Jumbos will return to sculling (rowing with two oars) next weekend as they hope to close out their fall season in style at the Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
"Everyone is still feeling very positive, and I think this is a really good showing of the direction the program is heading in," Velayo said of the team's performance this weekend.
