EL TRAIN: Princeton University women’s open crew senior co-captain Ella Barry displays her form in a race this spring. Last Sunday, senior co-captain Barry helped the Tiger second varsity eight place third in its grand final in the NCAA Championships on Mercer Lake. The bronze medal was the first medal for the second varsity at NCAAs since 2014 and just the third medal for the boat overall at the event (1997). (Photo by Row2K, provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

As a co-captain of the Princeton University women’s open crew team this year, Ella Barry was determined to set a positive tone.

“I think we worked well together,” said senior Barry, who led the squad along with classmate Katherine George. “For us, it is being supportive, being on the girls but also making sure we were having fun along the way because the most important thing is that you are having fun and enjoying the sport.”

Last Sunday, Barry had a lot of fun in the last race of her Princeton career as she helped the Tigers second varsity eight place third in its grand final at the NCAA Championships on Mercer Lake. The bronze medal was the first medal for the second varsity at the NCAAs since 2014 and just the third medal for the boat overall at the event (1997). The second varsity eight’s performance helped Princeton take sixth in the team standings at the event won by Stanford.

Coming off a semifinal win on Saturday, Barry and her boatmates were primed for a big effort in the grand final.

“It was really exciting, it gave us good confidence going in because we had a good piece,” said Barry, a native of Oyster Bay, N.Y. “The conditions have been challenging for sure. We had a pretty intense tailwind, it was choppy. It was a good opportunity to test our speed and set us up well for the final.”

Displaying its speed, the Tigers battled Stanford and Washington tooth-and-nail in the grand final. While the Cardinal never lost the lead, Princeton and the Huskies were gaining over the last 1,000 meters. In the end, Stanford had a winning time of 6:13.07 over the 2,000-meter course with Washington coming in at 6:14.93 and the Tigers just behind in 6:15.02.

“Our race plan was just to handle the conditions as well as possible,” said Barry. “It was get out there and be confident and get to our base because we have a strong base. We were gaining, it was amazing.”

Earning a bronze was an amazing achievement for the boat. “It is very exciting,” said Barry. “This is a great group of girls. I think we have really come together. We overcame a lot of challenging things over the year.”

Rowing out of the six-seat, Barry has looked to push the “engine room” in the center of the boat.

“I think of myself as the girl that backs up the stroke,” said Barry, who bounced back from surgery last fall to deal with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome when one of her ribs was impinging on a vein that caused a blood clot. “I am leading the middle four. It is fun because we have so many different years in this boat between freshmen and seniors.”

Having her younger sister, Cate, competing the last two years for the Princeton women’s lightweight crew was a lot of fun for Barry.

“It is such a big family,” said Barry of the boathouse. “I love having her, it was a really fun experience to have her the last two years. I will be in New York next year so I will visit her. It is so nice. I know the lightweight women better now because of her.”

Princeton head coach Lori Dauphiny liked the way her women competed as they dealt with injury on the eve of the competition.

“I am so proud of them, we lost a key player on our team in the varsity eight, Sam Smart, and the entire program rallied,” said Dauphiny. “It changed every boat. It was really impressive to see what they were able to do. The injury happened the day before we left. It is OK, those things happen and you have to absorb them on the team. It is really hard. I was super proud of them to rally and to race hard.”

The second varsity eight produced the major highlight of the regatta for the Tigers.

“For me, the 2V was the star,” said Dauphiny. “I think they were gaining confidence throughout the season and then even here from the heat to the semi. They were learning more about their speed and gaining confidence. They felt really good going into the final and I thought they executed well. The final is always tough. Those conditions were so difficult and they really managed it. I think it is very special to get up on the podium.”

Dauphiny credited Barry with being a major influence on team and her boat.

“She is a co-captain and has been a force on our team since the day she arrived as a freshman,” said Dauphiny. “She has always led by example. Having two seniors in that boat, Alice Patton and Ella, was special because they did bring an expertise, knowledge, and wisdom to the rest of the boat. I think that helped them gain confidence as well.”

After a disappointing fifth-place finish in its semifinal, the Tiger varsity eight rebounded to take first in the petite final on Sunday and place seventh overall at the regatta.

“That is such a hard thing to do,” said Dauphiny. “We have been in the petite final before. It is really easy to lose heart and say oh we are not going to do it but they stepped up. They did get better with each race. They said the final was a challenging one; it was a lot of survival out in the tough conditions.”

Princeton’s varsity four placed sixth in its petite final to finish 12th overall.

“They did well too; they also had a lineup change too and there is only four people,” said Dauphiny. “Percy [Wayne] stepped in as the spare and moved into the four which was fantastic. I think the four also stepped up to the occasion. It was a hard position to be put in but they did it. They did a nice job, I think they gave it their all. They left everything they had on the race course.”

Reflecting on the season overall, Dauphiny believed her rowers gave their all from start to finish.

“I was so proud of them at the Ivy Championship; I am really excited for our league that Yale won the varsity eight grand final today,” said Dauphiny, whose varsity eight placed first in the Ivy grand final last month with the Tigers taking second overall in the team standings at that event. “It was the fastest depth in the league that I have seen and I have been at Princeton for a long time. The interesting thing here too was I think this was one of the most competitive fields as well. Looking at the times and the heats and the semis for the 1V8, 11 teams were within four seconds of each other. That was pretty special as well. You just can’t miss a beat with that level of competition.”

Barry, for her part, views her involvement with the crew program as a very special part of her time at Princeton.

“It goes so fast; in these four years, rowing has been one of the most formative experiences I have ever had,” said Barry, who is going to be working as a paralegal for a New York City law firm as she starts life after college. “In many ways, it was the foundation of my undergraduate experience. Your teammates become your best friends. The discipline of it was amazing because it helped me set up my day and my schedules. I actually did better in school because of rowing. You are more on it.”