Following a lineup change the day before Sunday's Quinsigamond Snake Regatta in Worcester, Mass., the women's crew team notched a fourth-place finish out of 21 boats, barely five seconds behind third-place finisher Wellesley.
Clocking in at 15:58.083, the Varsity Eight boat improved four slots from last season's eighth-place finish, crossing the line 71 seconds behind winner and regional powerhouse Bates and 35 ticks behind runner-up Holy Cross. Despite narrowly losing to local rival Wellesley, Tufts was satisfied with its efforts in the water.
"Our main goal for the day when we set out was to catch the boat in front of us, which we did, and that was great," senior co-captain Steph St. Thomas said. "We passed WPI, who started right before us, and they've been pretty competitive with us in the past. We also closed a huge gap on Colby, which was right in front of them and is one of our big competitors, so we were really pleased with that.
"We definitely reached all the goals that we had for the day — there's nothing to be upset about," she continued. "I don't know the last time we medaled at that race. Still, it was a big improvement, and that's all you can really ask for."
"Where we are now based on the results we saw this weekend, we've got a good solid squad," coach Gary Caldwell said. "We're probably top-10 material like we were last year."
While Tufts outpaced some boats that initially jumped ahead, placing itself in position to medal, the Wellesley crew still edged out Tufts to take third place.
"[Wellesley] was a real surprise for us because, beating Colby, we thought that we would be close to medaling, which we were," St. Thomas said. "It's hard to be five seconds off and we were so close. We were kind of frustrated about that, but it was a great race, especially because it was our first race, and everyone else raced last weekend, so they have a little bit more experience."
Changing its strategy from past years, the crew put its top eight erg-scorers in the Varsity Eight boat, a choice made in part due to the absence of several rowers who had done varying levels of training with the varsity earlier this season but were sick over the weekend.
"We changed our lineup Saturday morning, so we rowed in that lineup once [during practice] which was good," St. Thomas said. "And one of the big things that we struggle with in the spring is setting a good rhythm and getting a good pace, and we definitely had that down in the first five strokes and we had the rhythm the entire race and it was something we were really proud of.
"So we just basically looked at our erg scores and we took the fastest eight erg scorers and put them in a boat, which is something we've never really done before, and it just clicked," she continued. "It definitely bodes well for those people that were switched in; I think that that Saturday was our best practice of the season, and now that's the new standard."
"At the varsity level we showed that there's an awareness of what the rowing stroke should be like, and when we put eight people together who grab the initial concept, the boat goes pretty well," Caldwell said. "I suspect that if we row essentially that group of people through this week and they have four or five days together they'll develop some more confidence and push themselves a little further. I think they had a very efficient, but also fairly cautious row, on Sunday that they can, given a stable platform … be able to push themselves harder this week simply because they know what other people in the boat are capable of doing."
In putting together its varsity boat on Lake Quinsigamond, Tufts started a wide range of class years partially due to the aforementioned absences.
"We had two freshmen [Kathleen Holec and Hannah Ward] in the varsity, and they have really stepped up and they are such an integral part of our boat too; they are really in tune with the race plan, and I'm really impressed with them," St. Thomas said. "We had been trying out some [other] freshmen in the [varsity] boat and then on Saturday we switched in two seniors [Meredith Forbes and Lang Clancy] who hadn't really been in the varsity, so that was also great for them and they did really well."
Tufts as a team fielded four boats out of 21 in the Women's Open Eight, which included a standard JV boat and one that consisted entirely of freshmen; those two boats finished 10th and 11th in the race, respectively, a testament to the ability and potential of the experienced freshman class that arrived on the crew earlier this fall and performed well in its first collegiate race.
"It's unusual for us to have a boatload of experienced freshman," Caldwell said. "Normally this time of year we're still teaching walk-on freshmen how to hold onto the oar, how to put a boat in the water, and other rudimentary things. And what we're doing this year is just an extension of the varsity program; they just mixed right in and that changes things drastically.
"It seems with this group of freshmen that we can throw any combination of freshmen out there and they will row competently and they will be reasonably competitive, and that's exciting," he continued.
With its first race of the fall having been completed, the team can now look ahead expectantly to the annual Head of the Charles regatta, an important international institution in the sport and a crowning experience for all rowers this fall, especially the seniors. Indeed, the team has decided that all 10 of its seniors will compete over the weekend, regardless of whether there might be underclassmen that are technically faster or better in the water.
"We're really excited because all the seniors are going to row in it, which is huge because some of them have never rowed in it before," St. Thomas said. "And the freshmen know that their chance will come, so we're going to put up the fastest varsity that we can which may or may not be the lineup from this weekend, and then all the seniors in the second entry and whatever freshmen can duke it out for the last couple of spots."
"For me to deny a senior who's been with the program three or four years the opportunity because there might be an underclassman who's better than they are is a bit shortsighted," Caldwell said. "When you think about how many hours and years those folks have given the program, I don't think that would be very fair."
