This past Saturday, the men's crew team joined the women's team on the Malden River to host Tufts' 11th annual regatta with Bates, Wesleyan, Wellesley and the University of New Hampshire. Racing out of the William A. Shoemaker Boathouse, warm weather provided the rowers with optimal conditions.
Entering the action at the 23?race card - the largest regatta of the spring 2012 season - the men's varsity eight was winless, while the novice eight was undefeated.
The varsity squad has faced many larger, more experienced teams this season, and the story was similar on Saturday as Tufts went up against larger squads from Wesleyan and New Hampshire, which have both proven themselves to be well?oiled machines this spring. Against Wesleyan, the Jumbos' time of 6:47.9 came up short of the Cardinals' 6:16.9, a 31?second differential. Squaring off against New Hampshire, Tufts finished in 6:39.6 to UNH's 6:23.9.
Despite the large differentials, the Jumbos' times show some promising signs. Even though they did not come away with a win in either race, the Jumbos improved eight seconds from their first race to their second, suggesting that they have the stamina to handle long days of competition.
The team was also able to achieve one of its pre?regatta goals.
"We wanted to improve our second 500 meters," sophomore coxswain Jeremy Rosenblatt said. "That section of the race has been a problem for us, and we wanted to lower our average in the area below 1:40. We did that on Saturday."
Despite strong efforts in the second 500 ?meter race on Saturday, Tufts came up short, and in both races, victory was clear for the opponent by the time Tufts passed the boathouse. Wesleyan and UNH were even faster when they went head?to?head, with both turning in six?minute times in more competitive races.
Although the Jumbos' competition was simply faster than they were on Saturday, the rowers were able to stay levelheaded and take away both positives and negatives from the regatta.
"We wanted to concentrate on our personal finishes," sophomore three?seatLex Clary said. "We made a strong push with our power 10 in the second 500 meters but paid the price as we began to tire later in the third 500 meters."
The "power 10" is the most intense portion of the race when, for 10 seconds, the rowers push their absolute hardest while attempting to stay in sync. While the maneuver increases the speed of the shell, it comes at the price of tiring the rowers more quickly. In the end, the push was not enough to lead the Jumbos to victory.
Meanwhile, the novice eight defeated Bates 6:26.9 to 6:40 to remain undefeated on the year. This success has hardly been a surprise to the members of the varsity squad.
"Most of these guys are very experienced from rowing in high school and have the talent to compete with the best," Clary said. "They are adjusting very well to the program and have been able to gel as a racing unit rather quickly."
The varsity team will look to notch its first win next Saturday against Middlebury in another race at home on the Malden River.
