This past Saturday on the Malden River, the women's crew team suffered clean sweeps at the hands of two teams ranked in the top 10 nationally: sixth?ranked Wellesley and eighth?ranked Wesleyan.
It was a tough weekend for Tufts, facing off against a Wellesley squad that placed third at NCAAs in 2011 and a Wesleyan squad that has been in excellent form so far this season, recently moving up from ninth to eighth in Div. III.
Also competing at the regatta were the No. 2 Bates Bobcats, who finished second at the 2011 NCAA championships, though the Bobcats did not race head?to?head against the Jumbos.
The races were arranged tournament?style, with Tufts pitted against Wesleyan in the first round and - after falling to the Cardinals - Wellesley in the second round.
After their previous regatta, in which they struggled with the task of racing twice within one grueling hour, the Jumbos entered this past weekend coming off a week of hardcore training to improve stamina and fitness and ease the transition to more frequent racing.
"This weekend, we only had 40 minutes in between races, and we all felt our stamina and fitness had greatly improved since our Holyoke/Hamilton race weekend," senior tri?captain Erika Parisi said.
But despite the team's intensive preparation, the Cardinals proved too much to handle once both teams set out on the water.
Tufts' first varsity eight rowed a respectable 7:11.6, but Wesleyan's finished in a solid 6:58.5. Although the Jumbo women raced at a 33?stroke pace, they could not bridge the 13?second gap.
The second varsity eight endured the team's greatest margin of defeat - 39.8 seconds - in the next race, a difference that was reduced by more than half in the final race against Wesleyan. In the last race against the Cardinals, the Jumbos' third varsity eight boat posted a time of 7:46.0 to Wesleyan's 7:30.6.
"After rowing the first race against Wesleyan at a 33?stroke rating, we decided to take it up for the second race," Parisi said. "It was great that we could identify that and make the change as a boat in the 40 minutes between races."
Though Tufts was swept once again, this time by Wellesley, the first and second eights both reduced their times, with the former rowing at a brisk 35?stroke rate and keeping pace with the Blue until the 1,500?meter mark.
The second varsity eight had a bit of a rough day Saturday, seeing its times decline from the team's race two weeks ago. But the first varsity eight raced more consistently, lowering its average time.
Overall, the team fared well given the circumstances and saw its hard work during the week pay dividends.
This weekend's action will kick off on the Malden River against Middlebury on Saturday. On Sunday, the women will head to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. to take on No. 12 Washington College, No. 15 WPI and unranked RIT.
