HEAVY LIFTING: The Princeton University men’s heavyweight first varsity 8 churns through the water in action this spring. Last Saturday, the Tigers won the petit final at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championship regatta to place seventh in the country. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton Crew/Tom Nowak)

For the Princeton University men’s heavyweight rowers, their performance last week at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championship regatta turned out to be a reflection of a transition season for the program.

On Thursday, Princeton enjoyed a productive opening day, advancing all three of its boats, the varsity eight, second varsity eight, and freshman 8, into the semifinals.

A day later, the Tigers fell short in the semifinals and all three boats had to settle for spots in the B final rather than the grand final.

But showing its character, the varsity eight and the freshman 8s both won their petit finals on Saturday while the second varsity took third.

Princeton head coach Greg Hughes liked the way his rowers had trained since competing in the Eastern Sprints in mid-May.

“We changed up the kind of work we do; it was time to make some changes and push,” said Hughes. “We had two weekends without racing; we worked hard.”

While that work paid dividends for the Tigers on the first day of the regatta, the racing didn’t go as well in the semis.

“Both varsity boats did a solid job on Thursday; they did the pieces that they wanted to row,” said Hughes.

“The conditions were tough on Friday; there was a stiff headwind. I thought we could have rowed better. It was a really great battle between our varsity and Syracuse for third (and the last spot in the grand final); they got the upper hand. It was disappointing; our goal was to make it back to the finals.”

Fighting through that frustration, Princeton ended the IRAs on a high note.

“I thought we rebounded well from Friday,” asserted Hughes. “We rowed a sound piece in the B finals; we made the most out of the race. The guys ended the season in the best way they could.”

For Hughes, there were two main lessons for his rowers to learn from the season.

“I hope they take away two things; we made some good progress through the season and then we had to make adjustments to do as well as we did in sprints,” said Hughes.

“The IRAs are tight and close. They know what the top-end speed is and I think they are motivated to achieve it.

Hughes knows that the graduation of such seniors as captain Ian Silveira and Mike Protesto will leave a void.

“It will be sad to not have Ian next year,” said Hughes. “Mike Protesto was on varsity last year. He was dealing with injury this year and didn’t make varsity but he was a real role player. He was the heart and soul of the second varsity. He won our W. Lyman Biddle sportsmanship award and there was no question about it.”

The Princeton rowers will need to put their hearts into their summer training in order to again become championship contenders.

“It is the off season but not time off; they need to get back to work,” said Hughes.

“It’s not just about what you do in the spring; it is an all-time thing. We have six or seven guys going to national camps this summer and only one, Silveira, is a senior. That will help with the development; they need to be with different programs and have different roles.”

While Princeton has the pieces in place to maintain the program’s winning tradition, that doesn’t ensure greatness.

“Talent is potential but potential doesn’t equal success; we talked about that at the end of the season,” said Hughes.

“It is one thing to have talent, it is another thing to take advantage of it and use it. You can’t take anything for granted.”