Lightweight Men Win Silver at National Championship
By Louisa Seferis, F’05, varsity coxswain
We went into Sprints this year hoping to medal but still believing we were slower than Harvard and Navy, and while we rowed hard and well, the results show exactly that. We came to IRAs with a different mentality and it reflected in our racing.
After spending two days at the course without racing, the guys were very fired up for the heat. The warmup didn't go as planned due to officials giving me conflicting information on the warmup pattern, and we practiced ONE START on the pause before coming to the line. Despite this, the guys reacted professionally and raced well. We pressed ahead easily in the first 500 and edged out Harvard through our 2 powerful moves, even though we based low (around a 34). We did not sprint, we only sharpened our catch timing to counter Harvard's attempt to pass us in the last 250. Although we could have easily made the final without taking our moves and by finishing 2nd, we were glad we pushed a bit because it didn't cost us much in the way of energy and it provided us with the better lane in the afternoon. Plus, I truly believe that if I hadn't called the moves the guys would have pushed anyway!
We were nervous but ready for the final. We were strong coming off the blocks but a little tenser than usual; our speed comes from our base rate and our moves, however, so once we settled we regained our confidence. Princeton had jumped a few seats ahead of us and Navy, but having raced and beaten them three times during the season we knew their lead wouldn't last. Our moves were in fact what Coach and our captain Andrew Lechleiter say they are – devastating. We broke from the pack with Navy about a seat or two behind us, a margin we carried well into the third 500. Unfortunately their sprint was like our moves (devastating), and at about 650 to go they took it up. In the words of our stroke, Cameron Booth: "We sold our souls in the 3rd 500 and we had little left to sprint with." In fact, Cameron was so gassed that he wasn't responding to my calls to sprint – I had to get his attention through hand signals! We pushed the rate and the intensity up a few beats, but Navy's momentum was too strong and they gained a sizeable margin on us, considering we had been leading such a close race prior to the last 500. It was hard to cross the line knowing they had won because we had been racing for gold. I believe that was the difference that set Navy and us ahead the rest of the field by over a boatlength.
The nine of us know we made history on Saturday, but the reason we initially seemed apprehensive about the silver is because we knew we had the speed to win gold. Navy deserved the win after their amazing performance, but the wonderful thing about my guys is their inability to settle for anything less than perfection. The foundations laid by the alumni – who provided incredible support at the regatta, we were thrilled to see you all there! – have turned the men's lightweight program into a consistent force to be reckoned with in a field where the Ivies have traditionally dominated. You can expect to see us on the awards dock a lot more from now on.
I'd also like to say that Coach did a great job getting our energy focused towards a peak performance. He listened to our suggestions and proved to be flexible with his authority; he changed the game plan according to our requests (for eg, our desire to do a high 20 instead of his high 25), and even invited Porty to work on starts with us. Belden's foresight definitely helped us get the silver on Saturday.
Thanks for all your support and cheering on Saturday... it was wonderful
to pull up to the awards dock and have the largest cheering squad out
of all three medaling crews.
