Amherst Waters Give Crew Countercurrents

Author: Ashley Elpern

In the second race of the season, the Middlebury crew team faced NESCAC foes Amherst and Bowdoin on the Connecticut River last Saturday, battling both the teams and the currents of the river in the shortened 1,800-meter race.

The highlight of the day came with the novice women's eight, which overcame half a boat length at the halfway point of the race to win by over a boat length. The swing of over 100 meters in less than 1,000 meters indicated "a really gusty performance," said Coach Alex Machi. Machi commended the rowers for their hard work."They couldn't have done it without every woman in that boat pulling together," he said.

Although their start was not perfect, the team took off halfway through the race, picking up on the lone Amherst boat. "We kept gaining on them the rest of the way," said Sara Hayes '05. With their second victory of the season, Hayes said that the team is "a lot more confident," as Amherst provided tougher competition. "Everyone said afterwards that as soon as we picked up the pace, they felt so much adrenaline to keep going," she concluded.

The men's varsity lightweight fours came up against "tough competition," according to Captain Brian Ambrette '02. "It was our first real taste of competition," he said, "as we rowed against all open-weight boats." Ambrette explained that in terms of strength, the races were not a fair match, but that the lightweights must row technically better to compensate for their lack of power. "That has been our goal from the beginning, as it will make us better than the rest of field," he said.

Machi echoed Ambrette's thoughts, and said that "we have to step it up in practice this coming week and do more speed work in order to be ready for next Saturday." He added that both boats are rowing much smoother than they were over Spring Break. Machi highlighted the work of Ambrette and G.P. LeBourdais '04 in the first four as providing a good rhythm for the others to follow, and also sophomore Kevin Sullivan who has moved to the stroke position in the second four. "He's doing amazingly well," Machi said.

In the novice men's race, Middlebury's four first-years Steve Venturi, Hans Manzke, Ian Ausprey and Bryan Roche performed well in their field of five boats, placing third. "Bowdoin was the one to beat, and we were all aiming for them," said Manzke. "Our boat had a great start and a strong first 1,000 meters, letting up a little at the end. I think that it is the most we have exerted ourselves yet." The four finished two seconds behind Bowdoin and eight seconds behind Amherst.

Manzke said they hope to work on their final sprint, and Machi said that it is difficult to say how much they can develop before the New England Fours Regatta in two weeks, "but given what they've accomplished in the last three weeks they could medal."

The three varsity women's fours had mixed results, but Machi is optimistic for their success in the upcoming weeks. He noted the increased strength of the second four and believes that they will pull everything together before New Englands. "We still have a bit of work to do in order to find the speed they're capable of," he said.

The lightweight four (sophomores Susannah Cowden, Hope Steege, Carolyn Gersh and Becky Latka) had a "surprisingly good" race, beating Amherst in their heat. "I'm sure this is a big boost for their confidence because we all knew it was there - the power and technique," said Machi. "This could be a turning point for these women."

Cowden said the win was great after working on technique all week and putting that together with speed. "It really shows us our potential for the rest of the season and we will see where the combination takes us," she said.

This upcoming weekend will take the team to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. to take on the University of Vermont (UVM), Assumption College and Franklin Pierce College. As the first men's varsity four finished just two second behind Franklin Pierce in the first race of the season, they are looking for victory this time, and the rest of the team is looking forward to playing out its in-state rivalry with UVM.