The girls’ first boat practices on Lake Quonipaug for the New England Championships.
On Sunday, May 8, the boys’ and girls’ crew teams travelled to Lake Waramaug in Connecticut to compete at the Founders League Championship. As they have done consistently throughout the season, the teams lived up to their expectations, placing exceptionally in all races.
However, the novice portion of the Championship was cancelled due to poor weather. Co-captain Jay Kahle ’16 commented, “It was the worst weather to row. The waves were mostly whitecaps. I remember the third boat came off and said, ‘Wow, that water was unrowable.’ If we’d had that water on our lake, practice would’ve been cancelled.”
Despite horrible rowing conditions, part of the regatta did take place. On the boys’ side, five out of six boats were able to get out on the water. In their respective races, First Boat placed third, Second Boat placed second, Third Boat placed second, Fourth Boat placed fourth, and Fifth Boat placed fourth, as well. Kahle praised the team, saying, “I think all boats really did well. First and Second Boats were racing against Kent and Salisbury, who both row 8s, and we row 4s.”
Kahle continued, “Those teams also have some ridiculous erg scores. When we heard about them we thought, ‘Wow, they’re so much faster than us,’ but we stayed right with them for the entire race and lost to Kent by only three seconds. Our second boat beat Kent, which felt really good, because Kent won both New Englands and Founders last year.”
The girls also had a successful day at the Founders Championship, with their Second, Third, and Fourth boats earning medals.
Coach Ashton Betancourt said, “That’s the first time in over ten years that the girls won medals at Founders, so this is the most successful day that we’ve had at that regatta in well over a decade.”
Coach Betancourt was pleased with the performance of all the girls’ boats at the Founders Championship, but he was particularly impressed by the Third Boat. “Although they had the worst lane in some terrible conditions, they powered through to win a silver medal,” he said.
The boys’ and girls’ teams will also compete at the New England Championships on Saturday, May 28. Kahle commented, “Going into Deerfield, based off of seeds, three out of our four top boats were poised to win a medal at New Englands.” Chris Novak ’16 added, “The spread from first to sixth seed among the First Boats is less than two seconds.”
The girls’ boats are also projected to do well at New Englands. Coach Betancourt commented, “We’re in very good shape, and we hope to win medals in the Second, Third, and Fourth Boats. We have a chance to actually win one of those and become New England Champions.” Crew will draw inspiration from their successful performances at Founders and against Deerfield to dominate at New Englands this year.
