Wrapping up its fall season, the women's crew team brought its sculling boats to Princeton this Sunday to compete in the Collegiate Small Boat Regatta. Led by senior co-captain Caroline Ricard, whose second place finish in the Singles C Final was Tufts' best at the regatta, the Jumbos rounded out a successful fall with a strong showing in their final event this season.
"I can say with confidence that we have never had such a successful fall season," said Ricard, whose time of 8:52.26 was just six seconds behind the first-place finisher in her race.
The Small Boat Regatta in and of itself was a special event. The emphasis in American rowing for years has primarily been on larger boat racing, especially the big eight-man boats, but Sunday's regatta was the first major event to abandon this convention and feature solely one- and two-person sculling races.
"This past weekend may have been a watershed in women's rowing in the US," coach Brian Dawe told the Daily in an email. "[It may have been] because we still don't know if there will be a second regatta next year to follow up this inaugural small boat challenge. Some of us [coaches] have been talking about this kind of sculling race for a number of years, and it's finally happened. All indications are that the event was very successful and that all the participants - scullers, rowers, coaches and organizers - found the event rewarding and energizing."
Dawe said he prefers this kind of event, where the focus is on small boats and sculling, since it allows the team members to develop individual skills first before rowing in the big eights.
Tufts faced fierce competition at the event, which featured scullers from predominantly Div. I schools that the Jumbos would usually not compete against, such as Syracuse, UMass-Amherst and several Ivy League schools. The team came out looking to have an impact in this inaugural event, and though none of Tufts' finishes were very high, the Jumbos definitely had a strong presence at the regatta racing against such rowing powerhouses.
The team competed in both singles and doubles sculling races, sending six single boats and six doubles boats to the competition. Moving on to the spring season, the team will be competing in the larger four- and eight-person rowing races, so this regatta also marked the last time the team will be using the sculling boats this year.
"As the last sculling race of our college career, this race held a lot of emotional weight for the seniors on the team," Ricard said. "Coming off the final I felt like we didn't leave anything on the table, which is all I can ask for."
Sophomore Claire Sleigh, who is also a sports editor for the Daily, raced in the Singles C Final alongside Ricard and took fifth place. In the D Finals, senior Ginnie Trumbull finished in sixth place in the singles event, recording a time of 9:33.58, while junior Emily Eickhoff and sophomore Emma Wells placed fourth in the doubles D flight with an 8:20.65.
The team also received commendable performances in the E, F and G divisions. In the E Finals, freshman Nika Wakulich took first place with a time of 9:38.42 while sophomores Kate Ainsworth and Claire Markoff took third and fourth in the same race, with times of 10:06.07 and 10:37.37, respectively.
The doubles boats of freshmen Julia Davis and Natalia Kastenberg, which posted an 8:43.69, and juniors Maddie Morley and Brett Mele, which clocked an 8:49.89, represented Tufts in the F Finals by taking fourth and fifth place.
Rounding out the Tufts contingent at Princeton were juniors Maureen Hilton and Laura Aravena and seniors Alecia Hagman and Sofi Shield, all of whom raced in the G Finals. In an impressive performance, the boat of Hilton and Hagman took first place in the race with a time of 8:53.88, while Shield and Aravena took second with an 8:56.89.
Looking ahead, Ricard is hopeful with regard to their prospects, especially with the team's balance between promising underclassmen and experienced upperclassmen.
"From the promising varsity freshmen, like Nika Wakulich, Natalia Kastenberg and Julia Davis, to the seasoned veterans who continue to improve their technique, like Brett Mele, Maddie Morley, Alecia Hagman and Maureen Hilton, everyone has been able to see tangible improvements in their performance," Ricard said.
In preparation for the spring, the team will be primarily focusing on conditioning, especially strength training and on rowing machines, to meet the physical demands that rowing in the larger boats will entail.
"Our goal, as it was last year, is to have our best race in our last event on Sunday afternoon, the 11th of May, at the ECAC championships," said Dawe. "All that needs to happen in the next 26 weeks is training that will allow that to happen. If the women want to win, they will have to transform themselves physically in this next half year."
