The whole point of the crew of the week is not which crew is the fastest out of all the contenders. Its about who was most impressive in the context of their division, program, league, race, competition, difficult circumstances, rowing above themselves, dominating the field etc. With all these considerations in mind the Williams women deserve this. SquareDown is spot on. Williams, and Trinity on the men's and women's side have done a ton to raise the standard for both men's and womens DIII rowing. As a Bates Rower, on the men's side, between 04-08 I can attest to that. One huge reason why our program has improved is through the desire to catch these top crews. They have absolutely raised the level of DIII rowing and in so doing motived other programs to step up there training and commitment in order to try and take them down. Congratulations.
is the simple truth that if you wanna win you gotta chase the big boys.
AttentionGo- It is not as if Williams has a choice as to what level they row at and they decided to race Division III. If Stanford opted to race Division III and had their two eights in the grand final then I might be more willing to accept your comment as germain to the situation. The fact of the matter is Williams is not being celebrated because they won a medal, their accomplishment is significant because they have clearly raised the level of Division III rowing. In basketball, no man I know would bother watching women's basketball accept for maybe UCONN. They make it entertaining to watch because they win by 20-30 and play like men. By dominating a Division III field, I find Williams to be a program raising the level of their league. All of the other Division III schools are going to have to find a new formula because apparently you now have to go sub 6:30 to win the final.
Let's just keep things in perspective when voting. Williams won an event with 9 teams (7 teams also entered 2nd eights). This low number of teams and not having a DIII 2V8 event is why their 2nd eight was also in the grand final. Having a 2nd eight that is 14 seconds behind the 1V is nothing special. Most decent teams have a 2nd eight within 10-15 seconds of their first boat and its the intersquad competition at practices all year long that is a major contributor to fast crews. Williams is simply a big fish in a little pond...
Only 9 teams qualified, Williams has won events with more than sixteen boats before. If most decent teams have a second eight within 10-15 seconds of their first boat then why is the williams 2V consistently the only 2V in the grand final? 10-15 seconds is not intersquad competition, that's several boat lengths and not a boat race. Also, Williams has produced several Olympians and many more National Teamers, with two currently in the 1V and three on the men's team. Yes, it is DIII but crews like Williams, Trinity, Bates and Ithaca have managed to clearly set themselves apart from the pack and set a new standard that inches closer to DII and DI rowing. So much so that some coaches have asked to have Williams barred from certain events, like 4+'s racing, because they will "win everything." Thanks, SQUAREdown, you really do have to hand it to Williams. They've done this without the massive DI recruiting power, without relaxing academic standards for admission (Stanford is also commendable for this) and a lake that freezes for half of the year.
LET IT RUN PEOPLE! WEIGH ENOUGH! Williams can't win over Stanford. I'm positive Williams has no Olympians in their 8. Stanford not only has one but two. As it has been stated in previous comments you can't beat an Olympian, none the less two Olympians. A vote against Stanford is a vote against AMERICA. Hell, a vote against Stanford is a vote for socialism. We don't want that now do we fellow rowers.
Congratualtions to the Williams woman on another amazing performance - what depth and talent! And all this at a Div II schook, where pride and performance are the sole reward.
Congrats to Stanford. After getting nipped last year by Yale. As for the Olympic debate. Kudos to Yaz for developing Olympians. Sauer has enough Jr. Nat rowers to do the same. I feel it is about time he pushed the head of the pack. Always remember that 2nd is first loser. And judging by the gallery photos looks like Va got walked through the last 250m. A reversal of fortune by the Cardinal.
did yaz really develop olympians? lindsay meyer is new to stanford this year, deferring when she was accepted to train for the olympics. elle logan has been involved with national teams since 2005. but props to getting all that talent to row well together, that is really impressive.
Obviously you did not attend the NCAA's. Virginia beat Stanford in the semi finals (which surprised everyone) and after being down by more than 3/4 of a boat length at one point in the race, Virginia put on one of the most impressive sprints in the last 600m to fall just shy of the victory. (the angles and photos can be deceiving) Their splits were faster in the last 500 and given a bit more water I believe they would have beat Stanford again in the finals. This is not about disrespecting Stanford. They won the race and all their boats performed well to win the team championship. Congratulations to the athletes and coach Yaz. Additionally, no where did anyone state that Stanford has an "unfair advantage". It is merely a fact that they do, but ALL have to row together which is why this is the ultimate team sport. Given this fact, it is natural for anyone to have high expectations for them to perform well. I think they would agree. Stanford set the bar high early in the season for all crews to shoot for. At any rate, the gutzy race that Virginia had in the semi's and in the final also beating other powerhouses that dominated all season as CAL and YALE, was quite impressive to say the least.
EDIT~~~ "Additionally, no where did anyone state that Stanford has an "unfair advantage". It is merely a FACT that they do HAVE OLYMPIANS but ALL have to row together which is why this is the ultimate team sport.
That is correct 15132456row, if I don't row in 'em I don't go to 'em. You don't have to win the semi to get the gold. SHOCKING as it may be life isn't always chalk. The final is all that matters. Good sprint and semi win doesn't qualify you for mention as crew of the week. Va didn't even place in top 3 in team event. So they can take their silver medal and team participation ribbon back down south.
TheTruth~ why so hostile. Spoken from the heart God Bless the USA for being able to express our opinions. btw~ it was Virginia's V8 that was nominated and for what its worth, the beauty of the Crew of the Week nominations is to recognize a crew who executed an exceptional race. Virginia happens to be one of them!
Didn't mean to come across as evil just truthful. Yes, Va did have nice row if they are happy with second. I just think Sauer has done a poor job over the years. They recruit well. Many Jr Nats on their roster but never blossom. These college coaches must keep developing these rower after they get to the college level. At Princeton Chase Va places 2 varsity boats in top 3 and then have historically fizzled by end of year. They come out of the weakest qualifying region historically. Now that Clemson and Louisville are pushing, Va better savor the silver
why do people speak of having olympians on a team as being some kind of unfair advantange? "while standford did have 2 olympians in the 1V..." "Standford with two olympians did what was expected..." this has come up in previous polls as well.
I also agree. Probably every boat in the top seven or eight 1V's have at least one past or future Olympian. And believe me, having Olympians in the boat does not always translate to speed. There was a year at Brown when the V had four guys who had, or would row in the Olympics, and they raced in the trucks at IRA's. There is a lot more to just having recruits in a boat to produce speed.
Agree with your sentiment AttentionGo. Kudos to Stanford for recruiting that talent. As long as they meet NCAA eligibility, their accomplishment should not be deminished in any way. When did being an Olympian become a scarlet letter like taking PED's?
Agreed that there are great boats and teams in here... Virginia definitely raced amazingly at NCAAs and deserve their props for that. That said, while Stanford did have 2 Olympians in the 1V, they also had pretty much the entire team at NCAAs, not leaving tons of girls behind like many of the teams. Winning the team championship is a full-team thing, not a single boat, and I think that's extremely impressive. Yes, they had top-end talent, but they still had to get it done from the first boat to the last, and they did (1st, 3rd, and 5th places in the 3 categories). I think that's most deserving of Crew of the Week.
The #4 ranked Virginia varsity 8 women raced one of the most impressive races at NCAA's. Sure, Stanford has been the powerhouse all season long but to consider where Virginia was a month ago and to come back and challenge Stanford the way they did is an incredible story to say the least. After being down at the start Virginia put on such a commanding race only to miss the victory by less than half a second! In the end - Stanford with two Olympians did what was expected of them and Virginia raced a race that garnered them much respect. Congratulations to Coach Sauer and the awesome athletes. I can't wait for next year!
No Western Washington five-peat love? Yeah, Williams has four, but Western with five straight! Plus over half their athletes at NCAAs were freshmen, most were walk-ons too. Congrats and well done to Coach Fuchs and the athletes at WWU.
williams has a chance to five-peat next year seeing as half of their V8 were freshmen. also, at least half the nationals squad were walk-ons. you might also want to look at the times..williams set a course record.
After 4 straight NCAA Championships, I've got to give this one to Williams - really the whole Williams team, for the 3rd time in 4 years their 2v made it into the grands with all the other 1Vs. They've really made a statement these past 4 years about the quality of DIII rowing, got to hand it to them!
Div III: None of the scholarships, none of the press, none of the "Olympian" 'zons, and all of the heart and soul of what makes a great race. The finish of the NCAA Grand Final was one of the best displays of racing ever. Tip of the hat to Bates and Trinity. Williams College Ephs continue to show depth, discipline, commitment to others, and courage. Go Ephs!
Quality, as in 35,000 students on campus vs. 5000 from which to boat up? Quality, as in booster clubs with millions in endowments vs. almost a club sport? Quality, as in boathouses that look like Empacher showrooms vs. smallish boathouses with a few shells? If the rowing experience is somehow diminished by the more limited capacity to operate, then why do these superb athletes row for Div III colleges? Turns out, they LOVE it! Rowing is not just about performace, is it? It's about making everyone go fast, not just one boat. I think Williams has figured out how to get two boats to go fast through conditioning and team building. Div III may have a more lmited set of resources, but they seem to do more with what they have. A great lesson fo these times and for those students.
Granted that some of the lower divisions don't have the money support that the traditional DI powers have. The more successful DIII teams are located in the northeast. Just look at this years participants. Their times are faster than the DII schools times. Look at Saturday qualifying times. DII gives full rides. It is simple. The prep school kids can't all get into the ivys so they go to the more prestigious DIII colleges and universities that are local to them. So please stop with school size and scholarships opportunities.
williams student body is just over 2000. ithaca has over 4000. obviously numbers don't matter and neither does recruiting power. just how do those williams women do it?
06/05/2009 12:16:40 PM
is the simple truth that if you wanna win you gotta chase the big boys.
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