Crew finds early success Rowers make waves against NESCAC foes

Author: Stephanie Pritchard

Lake Dunmore, the on-water training site for the Middlebury Crew team, still is covered in a foot of ice. It wasn't until the rains of last Tuesday melted the ice on Great Herring Pond in Plymouth, Mass.that the team was assured of a racing site. Massachusetts Maritime Academy hosted Fairfield, Franklin Pierce, Roger Williams, Amherst and Bowdoin along with Middlebury in the first regatta of the spring season. After a week of intensive training in Miami (including a very competitive scrimmage against Union College) the team was unable to have any water practices before the competition at Plymouth.

Adverse weather conditions caused the race directors to reverse the race course, as well as shorten the normally 2000m course to approximately 1700m. With winds gusting up to 25mph blowing the light rain sideways at some points, the crews were faced with some of the toughest of rowing conditions. Despite these undesirable circumstances, Middlebury proved to be one of the top teams at the regatta.

The women's novice squad finished second in both the fours and eights races, while the top men's novice boat both finished third. The second men's novice four just barely missed tying Bowdoin for fifth place. The men's varsity four finished third to Bowdoin and Amherst, respectively, both historically strong crews. In the varsity men's eights race, the men's varsity team, short on rowers, borrowed three novice men who literally finished one race, walked across the dock and started another. The boat was very successful and placed second to Bowdoin by only three seconds.

The women's varsity was perhaps the most dominant Middlebury team of the day, winning two of the three races in which they competed. The women's eight (Camden Burton '06.5, Sara Hayes '05, Emily Loesche '05, Miko Heller '07.5, Anna Eisenstein '07, Kathryn Babin '07, Emily Dawson '08.5, Molly Vaughn '06 and Rebecca Hollewijn '07) edged out second place Bowdoin in a close race that provided an exciting close to the day's races. The second women's varsity four, comprised of Stephanie Pritchard '06, Eisenstein, Dawson, Vaughn and Hollewijn pulled away from Bowdoin and Mass. Maritime early in the race, finishing almost 20 seconds ahead of second place Bowdoin. The first women's varsity four placed a close fifth in the most competitive race of the day. After a rough start and despite another boat almost hitting them, the women flew through the choppy water, catching Roger Williams and finishing only seconds behind Mass. Maritime.

Next week's races will be hosted by Amherst College, where rival Bowdoin College will be represented. The warm weather forecasted for the upcoming week will hopefully make some progress on the icebergs covering the lake, allowing for more practice on the water. Until then, the spotted blades of the Middlebury teams can be seen in Vergennes as the team braves the near-freezing waters of Otter Creek.