OPENING UP: The Princeton University women’s open crew varsity eight churns through the water in recent action. Last Saturday, the Tiger top boat came in third behind winner Tennessee and runner-up Yale while beating Virginia in a regatta on Lake Carnegie. In upcoming action, Princeton heads to the Midwest to face Michigan and Ohio State on April 25 in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Photo by Row2K, provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

While the snowy and frigid weather that hit the area this winter kept the Princeton University women’s open crew off the water until March, the rowers still made progress in their preseason training.

“Typically in February we are sort of on the water and off the water, this year there was no question that we were off the water,” said Princeton head coach Lori Dauphiny. “The positive of that was that we just had consistent training, there was no question. It was mainly erg, we have a lot of really nice equipment. We have tanks and we have the weight room, we mixed it up. We even went to different facilities. We used the weight room over at Meadows, it is wonderful.”

While that training helped the rowers with their cardio capacity, not getting on the water has left then behind in terms of their crews coming together.

“All of our boats need some work, that was the downside of the late winter,” said Dauphiny. “The challenge this year, maybe more than other teams in this boathouse, is selection. We lost such a good class. It really is open opportunities for everyone. It is a whole new profile because we graduated so many. I feel behind in figuring out the boating. It is not so much me selecting the boats, a lot of it is growth. The team is young and we haven’t had that much time on the water. It is a process. In terms of that, I am mixing and matching lineups.”

As the Tigers have gone through that process, Dauphiny credits the squad’s three senior captains, Laoise O’Donohoue, Whitney Wise, and Katie DiPaola, with setting an upbeat tone.

“They are just really good examples and positive forces on our team,” said Dauphiny. “I appreciate their leadership.”

Princeton got off to a positive start this spring as first varsity eight defeated Brown on Lake Carnegie to retain the Class of 1987 Trophy. The Tiger top boat clocked a time of 7:16.1 over the 2,000-meter course with Brown coming in at 7:22 in the March 28 regatta.

“Brown is a strong team and it was great competition,” said Dauphiny. “I thought the team performed well with relatively a short period of time on the water.”

Two weeks later, the Tiger varsity eight picked up two more wins as it hosted its Princeton Invite which featured 54 races as both men’s and women’s crews competed in the event. In morning racing, Princeton clocked a winning time of 7:09.00 over the 2,000-meter course to retain the Class of 1975 Cup with Syracuse coming in second at 7:13.16 followed by Harvard (7:31.4) and Cornell (7:44.7). In afternoon racing, the Princeton varsity eight posted a 3.2-second victory (6:58.4) over Rutgers (7:01.6).

“It was a step forward, we recognize some things that we have to work on,” said Dauphiny, reflecting on the victories. “It was tough because the conditions were really hard. There was a monster headwind and two fairly long races in the condition was interesting. We came out with two wins which was great for us. It exposed some things as well with the rougher conditions and two races back-to-back.”

Last weekend, No. 6 Princeton hosted three Top 10 teams and placed third behind winner No. 4 Tennessee and runner-up No. 3 Yale while beating No. 8 Virginia. Tennessee clocked a winning time of 6:12.1 with Yale coming at 6:15.0, Princeton finishing in 6:17.1 and Virginia placing fourth in 6:18.1.

“One thing that we are continuing to try to do is really strengthen our schedule and get more crossover; it was a concerted effort this year to do it,” said Dauphiny. “Tennessee and Yale were strong and we knew they were going to be strong going into the race. We knew it was going to be fast and we did a good job but we still have a lot to learn. We need to work on our first 1,000. We were really trying to do a better job in the second 1,000 on Saturday and the team actually did that but the first 1,000 was not up to standard. We haven’t put a whole race together yet.”

This weekend, Princeton will look to produce some solid races as its travels to the midwest to face Michigan and Ohio State on April 25 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“I think it is really good for that crossover and to see schools that are fast and outside of the Ivy League,” said Dauphiny. “Michigan seems to be getting faster pretty quickly. Ohio State just did very well at the Big 10 Invite in Sacramento. We know that they are a formidable foe. We are looking forward to it, we recognize that we are going up against two hard teams. This is a regatta where we are doing back-to-back, first with Michigan in the morning and then with Ohio State in the afternoon.”
In Dauphiny’s view, the Tigers are making progress as they have been pushed by formidable foes.
“We are heading in the right direction,” said Dauphiny. “We still have a lot to learn and practice and develop. We have the time and the racing ahead of us to do so.”