By Bill Alden
As the Princeton University women’s open crew got ready to compete at the NCAA Rowing Championships last weekend, it got hit with a major change of plans.
With showers in the forecast for Saturday at the course on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga., the schedule for the regatta on Friday turned into a grueling test of rowing as the organizers compressed the opening heats and the semis into one day.
“I was so proud of the team, it was a really tough day of racing,” said Princeton head coach Lori Dauphiny. “I thought we handled it really well. I am probably most pleased with our semifinal performances.”
The varsity eight and second varsity eight both won their heats while the varsity four took third in its heat to open action on Friday.
Later in the semis, the 1V battled hard to take third and qualify for the grand final, holding off charges from California and Washington to secure the last qualifying spot.
“They really stepped up to knock out some of those crews, they were all grand finalists in the past,” said Dauphiny in reflecting on her top boat’s effort. “We were all ranked within a spot of each other. Some were above us, some were below us.”
The 2V cruised to a second place finish in its semi to also make the grand final.
“I thought they had a better draw for the semi,” said Dauphiny. “The 2V was probably our most consistent performers.”
The V4 finished fifth in its semi, sending it to the petite final. “They got off to a good start, they had a tough semi,” said Dauphiny “They did their best and we were proud of their performance too. I think that was in line with their speed and their season.”
In the grand final on Sunday, the varsity eight placed sixth as it took on some formidable competition.
“It was a tough race, we were behind the field early in and it was really difficult to make that up,” said Dauphiny, whose boat posted a time of 6:00.0 over the 2,000-meter course in the race won by Texas at 5:47.7. “The 1V did their best. It was a hard way to finish but it was an incredible season and no one can take that from them. The semi had to be the race of their life. It was so tight and to get into the final like that was really a testament to the way they handled themselves in the race.”
As for the 2V, it ended up fifth, clocking a time of 6:03.1 in the race won by Stanford at 5:52.9.
“They ended on slightly a more positive note,” said Dauphiny of the 2V. “I thought that they had a shot to medal. It was a close race. It was the fastest they had ever gone.”
The V4 took fourth in the petite final to finish 10th overall. “I thought they did a really nice job of rallying, it is hard when you miss out in the A final,” said Dauphiny. “They came back on Sunday and they were positive.”
In the team standings, Princeton scored 100 points to end up sixth overall behind Texas (130), Stanford (125), Tennessee (119), Virginia (114) and Yale (103). It marked the fifth straight year the Tigers have placed at least sixth or better at NCAAs.
In Dauphiny’s view, that consistency speaks volumes about the program’s depth and competitiveness.
“We, as a coaching staff, are proud of the fact that we were sixth in the country,” said Dauphiny, whose team had earned its ninth consecutive Ivy League women’s rowing championship in mid-May, winning the varsity eight grand final to secure the League’s automatic qualifier bid to the NCAA Championship. “We don’t have scholarships, we are a mid-sized school. I think it says a lot for our program. For the most part, everyone felt like it was a step up. We have more to do and we have to think about next year. It was a very respectable finish. There are many crews who would want to be in our shoes. It was good overall.”
Going forward, Dauphiny believes the Tigers can keep stepping up on the national stage.
“I think we do have a good foundation,” said Dauphiny. “After the racing some of the rowers spoke and talked about how they are looking forward to next year.”
Reflecting on this campaign, Dauphiny acknowledged that it was a tough year as the rowers dealt with the death of teammate Kerry Grundlingh ’27, who was killed in a cycling accident last July after being struck by a car in her hometown of Johannesburg, South Africa.
“Before the race her mom sent us a message, we are very close with the family,” said Dauphiny. “It was an exceptionally hard year, especially in the winter, for that junior class and for Kerry’s teammates in general. They are young to lose a person in their life. It was felt deeply. At the end, the team spoke about thanking each other for helping them to hold it together and strengthen them when they had a really tough winter without their best friend. I am really proud of them for hanging in there for a challenging year in both triumph and deep sadness and tragedy.”
Dauphiny credited her senior group with helping to keep spirits high as the team worked through those ups and downs.
“We are going to miss them terribly, they were such an important force on our team,” said Dauphiny of the team’s Class of 2026. “They were leaders by example, they were a lot of fun to be around. It is just hard to believe that they are not going to be back next year, it goes by so quickly.”