This past weekend, Tufts men’s and women’s rowing combined for mixed results in their season opener on the Malden River against Wesleyan University. The men’s 1v8 boat lost its first race, but the men’s 2v8 boat edged out Wesleyan. Both the women’s 1v8 and 2v8 boats fell short to the Cardinals.
In the first men’s race, the 1v8 boat lost with a 6:14.9 time to Wesleyan’s 6:08.2. However, the Jumbos secured a win with the men’s 2v8 boat defeating the Cardinals with a 6:28.4 time to a 6:35.3 for Wesleyan. The men’s 1v8 and 2v8 lineups varied in experience with a total of five first-years, seven sophomores, four juniors and two seniors.
Junior bow Henry Ross said that although the team fell short of its goal, the rowers were excited to be out on the water competing again. He attributed the loss to rust and also to a strong competitor in the 1v8 Wesleyan boat, the reigning New England champion. He said the team, despite recent losses, is working hard and has high hopes for the remainder of the season.
“We’re going into this season with some uncertainty, but everyone is still super excited to get back into it, especially with how fast our boats are moving,” Ross said. “With how excited everyone is to be there every day, it’s been a real treat to be a part of. The quality of work that people are doing at practice is the highest it’s really ever been.”
In reference to this past weekend’s performance, Ross said the boat encountered a hiccup in the middle of their race, and they are trying to improve upon that portion of their race.
“We need to work on getting comfortable at slightly higher stroke rates and solidifying our mid-race move,” Ross said. “The first thousand [meters] we rowed on Saturday was really good, just in the pocket having fun. But, then [we] bobbled a little bit and couldn’t really recover in the manner that we wanted to after Wesleyan took a few seats on us. We’ve been doing a lot of work to keep up the mojo throughout the second half of the race.”
Senior stroke Harris Hardiman-Mostow said he was happy to have had the experience and is not worried about the loss due to expected rust and suboptimal physical conditions.
“We haven’t raced in so long, so it was more about getting our feet under us rather than really emphasizing just winning,” Hardiman-Mostow said. “We aren’t really in the part of our training cycle that would promote just going out there and having an amazing race. We’re trying to build and be ready for our championship races in the beginning of May.”
The women's 1v8 boat dropped its race with a time of 7:03.1 to Wesleyan's superior 6:51.5. The Cardinals also edged out the 2v8 boat with a time of 7:07.7 time to the Jumbos' 7:17.9. The women's roster, in contrast to the men's, is very young, with 12 out of 18 total seats belonging to non-seniors.
First-year rower Elizabeth Johnson, who rowed in the women’s 2v8 boat, said that between the recent hiatus of competitive rowing and the relative lack of experience among the roster, the team still needs to find its groove.
“Every first race, especially with a new crew and in our boat there are four [first-years], is a little hard,” Johnson said. “Getting used to that first race, like how the coxswain calls, how people row, when we need to use power strokes, getting acquainted with all that from the first race makes the second race a lot better.”
After both Tufts boats dropped their races to Wesleyan, Johnson said the team and coaches assessed what specific racing skills they needed to work on moving forward.
“Our course is a bit difficult, mentally,” Johnson said. “During part of the race, one team will be up and then the other team will be up and it evens out. The main thing we’re working on is strengthening our mental state during the race and preparing ourselves to push really hard when we need to push hard. Even though it may look like they’re gaining on us or they are in front of us a little bit, they’re actually not.”
Going into the next race, Ross and the Jumbos are focused on themselves rather than on their opponents. Both Ross and Hardiman-Mostow recognize the unpredictability of their opponents in this pandemic-ridden season, and they are looking forward to this weekend’s race.
“It’s hard to expect how the other teams are doing since it seems like every school has had different experiences with COVID,” said Hardiman-Mostow. “Our only focus for this weekend is that it’s just another regular season race and to keep building on what we did last weekend. We’re working on making steady progress and finding our pocket.”
The men’s rowing team will compete on Sunday against Hamilton at home on the Malden River at 2 p.m. The women's team will compete at the same time against Hamilton and Bates.
