Unfazed by a storm that rolled through between the heats and finals and caused a two-hour delay to the regatta, the Black & White of Harvard-Radcliffe made the most of their day at the Women's Sprints, winning medals in every event they contested, and taking home five openweight titles and two lightweight crowns overall, including both the Open and the Lightweight Varsity Eights.
"We've been a work in progress all year," said Radcliffe head coach Liz O'Leary after the Varsity Eights final. "There have been moments where I have seen real potential, and other moments where they came up short. The trick is, as the season comes along, to see if we can find some momentum and find some speed as the season comes to a close."
The Radcliffe openweights dominated the eights events, taking the 1V, 2V and 3V eights in dominant fashion, with both the 2V and 3V winning by open water. Additionally, Radcliffe won the Varsity "B" and "C" fours, and finished second behind Columbia in the Varsity "A" four.
With the business end of the season looming, O'Leary's crews relished the chance to do some racing championship-style. "This is a great regatta," said O'Leary, reflecting on the day. "There's great competition here, and it's getting stronger and stronger every year, and because it's great rehearsal for the Ivy Championships. We havent't had a chance to race heats in the morning, finals in the afternoon, six boats across, the whole experience of a championship regatta."
The Northeastern women were Radcliffe's first pursuers on the day, capturing silver each of the three Varsity eights events and a bronze in the Varsity 4 "A" four, while Columbia won the Varsity "A" four. Boston College took the Women's 4V eight event.
As part of her transition to post-competitive life, 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist Gevvie Stone is coaching at Radcliffe prior to beginning her medical residency this coming summer, and was responsible for the Radcliffe 3V today, right down to meeting the crew on the recovery dock with their shoe bag.
"It's been really fun seeing rowing from the other side, I think it's actually helping my rowing when I get in the boat, I know all the right things to think about," said Stone after the regatta. "Initially, coaching was a stop-gap, something to do that was productive, like I could give back and do something compentently between the Olympics and residency, but now it is very possibly something I want to come back to. I come to the boathouse every day, and I'm excited to spend however many hours there."
Whatever message Stone was sending seemed to resonate with her crew, as they won their final by almost 15 seconds. "I've had so much fun, the 3V is a great group of girls, and they're ready to work hard every day."
Stone was not the only Rio Olympian-turned-coach. USA W4x rower Adrienne Martelli, now coaching at Northeastern, joined her crew on the podium at Quinsigamond as well.
For all of the openweight crews, they now roll on into the respective conference championships in the coming weeks, hoping for NCAA bids.
Lightweights
Like their openweight counterparts, the Radcliffe lightweights found a peak at the right time today, upsetting #2-ranked BU to capture the Sprints Varsity Lightweight Eight for the fourth time in the last five years.
"Each week you could see the results of all the teams get tighter and tighter," said Radcliffe lightweight coach Sarah Baker. "As everyone gets faster throughout the season, things like this start to happen. I thought we had a chance of catching up to BU, but today was a little more than catching up."
Proving the old adage that inspiration can come from anywhere, Radcliffe 1V 4-seat Ada Bielawski proudly displayed her lucky washer on the awards dock. "I found this washer in the parking lot before the race," said Bielawski. "I just knew we were going to win."
Wisconsin was second in the Varsity Lightweight eight, just a pip (0.1 seconds, to be exact) ahead of Princeton, who reversed an earlier loss to BU. "Last year we lost this race by about 25 seconds," said Princeton lightweight coach Paul Rassam. "We're making progress, that result could easily have been silver. It feels like old times with Wisco and Princeton battling it out like that."
"What's been really cool to see is that it's a really level field this year," said Wisconsin coach Dusy Mattison. "I think it's anyone's game this year. I've been around lightweight rowing for a long time, and I have never see it this close. That's really exciting because it means more to them, and more to us."
Wisconsin also won the Lightweight 2V eight as well as the Lightweight Four to capture the Ulbrich Lightweight points trophy, while Radcliffe won the Lightweight 3V. Wisconsin's Mattison credited this to a slightly easier Wisconsin winter this year. "We were able to get on the water in early March, that has been really helpful in terms of getting water time," "I would say, fitness-wise, this is one of the fittest groups we've ever had at Wisconsin, and that's important when you don't get as much time on the water."
The Lightweights now have a month to prepare for the IRA. How do you cover a month without racing? "Good Question! You have to keep them sharp," said Radcliffe's Baker. "You dig in, keep pushing hard, and keep it simple."
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05/02/2017 11:00:55 AM