This weekend the rowing corps will add it’s final team into the mix as the lightweights take to the water in their first races of the season.
Tomorrow morning the oarsmen will trek down to the Inlet to meet the men of Harvard and Penn. And after months of preparation and a bit of a delayed start to the season, the lightweights are anxious to start racing.
“It’s been such a long training season, they’re tearing at the bit to go,” said lightweight coach Todd Kennett. “They’re ready for the real thing.”
This weekend’s races should produce some heated competition, especially considering the history that’s behind them. The Cornell-Penn match-up has been an annual tradition since 1937, when the two teams first began fighting for the rights to a coveted trophy.
“Winning is huge, but it’s more important that these guys put out a max effort. If they do that, they’re going to go really fast. I’d like to see them go sub-six minutes,” said Kennett.
The women rowers are heading to Boston to challenge Princeton and Radcliff.
Coach Melanie Onufrieff said she is looking for more speed from all of her boats this weekend as they race the two schools.
“[Princeton and Radcliff] are both good crews. I think the Yale boat we saw [last weekend] will be at least what we see from these guys,” said Onufrieff.
Unlike their counterparts, the heavyweights won’t have to worry about setting any speed records this weekend. The team will benefit from a much-appreciated weekend off as they prepare to race Navy and Syracuse on the 20th.
The team is taking full advantage of the break.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to train,” explained heavyweight coach Dan Roock. “Preparing for a race every weekend takes away from long-term training. Before a race we have to rest up. This week we were able to train like crazy and really get prepared for the rest of the season.”
Archived article by Meredith Long