Crew teams kick off 2018–19 season with Green Mountain Head regatta

The Jumbos' season commenced on Sunday at the annual Green Mountain Head (GMH) regatta in Putney, Vt. Singles and doubles rowers of all affiliations and ages, from an under-19 division to an over-75 division, competed on the Connecticut River.

Four rowers from Tufts' women's team, led by senior co-captain Libby Lichter, took on the three-mile course. Lichter finished 11th in the singles 19–34 age division with a time of 23:12.0. Sophomore Polly Harrington competed in the same event and finished 17th overall with a mark of 24:54.6. According to Lichter, many of their competitors had Olympic experience or were fresh off competing at the World Championships this summer.

"The women out there racing at GMH are some of the best in our sport," Lichter said. "Several just returned from World Rowing Championships, and several are pursuing the U.S. National Team, including Tufts rowing alum Sera Busse (LA '18). I had world-record holder Christine Cavallo starting directly behind me, which was wildly intimidating, but she was extremely friendly and humorous at the start line. It was great to have her to push me for the first 1,700 meters of the race before she passed me."

The other two rowers from the women's team competed in the doubles event. First-year Grace Anderson and sophomore Grace Duisberg placed 12th with a time of 24:26.8.

Lichter was happy with her performance in the season-opening regatta and is looking forward to a successful senior campaign.

"I’m extremely pleased with my performance," Lichter said. "I was ill most of the summer, which left me with minimal training time, so I wasn’t even sure I would be fit enough to race at GMH. But I surprised myself with a solid time on our first erg test of the season and didn’t want to lose the opportunity as it’s my senior year, so I decided to sign up. I owe a great deal to my coaches, who have been working with me to make technical changes that I think were integral to my strong performance."

Meanwhile, the men's team sent a larger contingent of rowers to the regatta. Three Tufts boats competed in the doubles competition, with three rowers in the singles under-19 division and 11 more in the 19–34 category. First-year Alex Williams led the Jumbos in the under-19 age group with a time of 21:31.7, earning 10th place. First-years Matias Facciuto (21:39.1) and Jack Batchelor (22:02.5) also competed in the under-19 division, finishing 12th and 14th, respectively.

In the 19–34 age group, the Jumbos were led by junior co-captain Mats Edwards who finished in 15th place with a time of 20:56.James Miller (21:14.8), co-captain Ryan Bell (21:25.9), Alec Whipple (21:54.4) and Nick Hartman (22:18.8), all seniors, rounded out the top five Tufts finishers.

In the doubles competition, Edwards teamed up with sophomore Harris Hardiman-Mostow to earn fourth place with a time of 20:47.5.  Bell and Miller took fifth place with a mark of 21:17.9, while juniors Peter Malinovsky and Michael Thramann followed closely behind with a sixth-place time of 21:27.0.

According to Whipple, GMH is unique because it only has singles and doubles sculling divisions. The winding course represents another layer of difficulty, especially to begin the season, but both the men's and women's sides seemed up to the task.

"The Green Mountain Head is always a great start to the year because it's so different from anything else we do," Whipple said. "Our spring championship races are in eight-man boats, but this first race involves rowing in a single scull, which means it is all based on individual performance. The course throws you for a loop with a 180-degree turn at the halfway point, which in my three years racing, I have never been able to master. It takes place in a scenic part of the Connecticut River, which feels miles away from the rest of civilization."

Whipple added how exciting it was to compete alongside National Team rowers, some of them former Olympians, and believes that rowing against such staunch opponents is beneficial experience for the Jumbos.

"Rowing in this race means competing alongside Olympians such as Gevvie Stone and John Graves, which is one of the coolest things you can do as a rower," Whipple said. "It's great that we are able to bring 15 guys who can hold their own in a single against a talented field, as this was definitely not true of our top 15 rowers a few years ago."

Both teams will travel to South Hadley, Mass. on Oct. 14 for the Hadley Chase regatta before turning their attention to the iconic Head of the Charles regatta on Oct. 21.