Both the men's and women's crew teams hit the water this weekend, hosting Middlebury College on the Malden River in a head-to-head regatta before making their way to Worcester on Sunday to compete in a multi-team invitational. Skidmore, William Smith, Washington College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) were all in attendance in Worcester, Mass., giving Tufts a tough challenge as the teams sought to prepare physically and mentally for the upcoming ECACs and New England Championships.
After a solid Saturday, the women continued their noticeable improvement on Sunday. Even though the Jumbos faced a plethora of good teams, they emerged as solid contenders and proved themselves by performing well in almost every race. The 2V race was the best outing by the varsity women, who came through with a solid second place out of five. With a time of 7:24.4, the squad lost to William Smith by just two seconds while crushing WPI (7:31.6), Washington (7:33.0), and Skidmore (8:21.5).
"This Sunday's racing was a big success for the 2V because we were able to effectively apply the things we've been working on in practices all week," senior tri-captain Bianca Velayo said. "The race was strong and aggressive, starting off hard, but we were able to maintain that power through the middle of the race, which is when crews usually start to run out of energy."
While the women raced well all weekend, the men struggled at times, both at the Malden River on Saturday and in Worcester on Sunday. They have been competing at a high level despite numerous injuries such as chronic back issues and lingering bouts with bronchitis and sinusitis.
The men's races on Sunday were against very experienced crew teams. At less than 100 percent, Tufts came in last as expected in the team's only varsity race of the day, an eight-man matchup against WPI, RIT and Washington College, who finished in that order.
"It was a strong field and it definitely showed," senior co-captain Eugene Kim said. "These were big crew programs with a lot of talent and depth. The team approached the race realistically, sticking to our game plan and executing effectively when possible."
In the most memorable race of the day, the men's novice crew team lost by a foot (.05 seconds) to RIT. The competitive nature of this novice team will hopefully blossom as the spring progresses into some memorable victories.
"We definitely figured out what we are capable of as a crew, but we still have some work to do because our ultimate goal is to win New England Championships in two weeks and then follow that with a win at the ECACs," freshman Andrew Rogers said. "We, as a crew, are excited for the hard work we will put in the next two weeks to make sure we get the outcome we want at our next and final two races."
Saturday's matchup with Middlebury was unusual, given that the teams usually only see each other at tournaments in the fall season. The women only participated in three races and started off by decisively winning the Novice Eight race. Middlebury lagged behind in 8:23.32 seconds while Tufts sprinted through the finish line in 7:35.4.
The subsequent race in the Varsity Four competition, in which Middlebury edged out Tufts by eight seconds, recorded a time of 8:24.5. The last race of the day, the Varsity Eight showdown, was an exciting win for the Jumbos as they were able to dash past the Panthers, finishing the course in 7:09.8.
"The race itself was a good, strong, consistent race," senior tri-captain Rachel Steward said. "We were bow to stern with them by the 750-meter mark, and … when we started our sprint we definitely pulled away from their boat in the last 200, showing we [still] had the strength and the energy reserves for a strong finish."
The varsity men struggled on Saturday but managed to win one race in a Varsity Eight boat. Though the win was inevitable — Middlebury was disqualified for a buoy violation earlier in the race — the Jumbos would have likely won anyway in a time of 6:55.5. The men's Varsity Four race, meanwhile, was a nail-biter that ended with the Panthers pulling through in 7:33.5 while the Jumbos finished a few boat lengths later at 7:37.9.
After the close result, the men's team is confident in its chances against Middlebury when the squads meet again at New Englands.
"The conditions were bad [when] we lost to Middlebury," Kim said. "[But] it gives us a good point to jump off from, because we will be facing them again at New Englands."
