AVY CREW NEWSLETTER Fall Recap www.navysports.com November 2011 In this Issue... • Fall Racing Recaps Hwts: Continued Improvement The Fall racing season saw the heavy- placed seventh; and our 4V finished 10th • Team Captains’ Outlook weights continuing to improve upon past out of 22 crews. All of our athletes raced • Boathouse Renovation performances to record the best overall twice on the day, helping us finish first and • Alumni Report head racing results in the past 4-5 years. second in both the varsity fours event, as The majority of the Fall was spent on well as the second varsity eight event. • Navy Crew Valor technical development and increasing base Our plebes had a great first outing in • Spring Schedules stamina. Long, low-stroke practices were Philadelphia, winning the freshmen eight the “order of the day” whenever possible. event by 14 seconds in a field of 19 boats. Our weight training and ergometer work They also doubled up in the freshmen were designed to compliment the on-the- fours event to win by 30 seconds. water training. This year’s edition of the Head of the Lightweight Crew Beautiful weather and fast, but calm Charles was rowed in slower conditions The lightweight crew’s goal to improve conditions greeted our rowers in Philadel- than last Fall but saw a loaded field in the on last Fall’s results has been apparent phia, helping to make the 2011 Navy Day Championship Eight event as usual. Our from the squads’ first row, and their effort Regatta particularly memorable. Our crews Varsity boat finished exactly the same place has paid off with strong finishes at all the rowed in five events, winning them all. In as 2010 with what was arguably a stronger, Fall races. The season kicked off on Octo- the Open eight event, our Varsity won by more aggressive row. The U.S. and German ber 8th at the Navy Day Regatta with the 23 seconds over second place, while our crews took two of the top four spots , while top two varsity eights finishing first and 2nd Varsity finished fourth overall; our 3V Hwt Story cont’d on Page 2 second in even lineups. The plebe light- weight crew had a strong day as well, fin- ishing first among lightweight boats and fourth overall in the freshman event. Navy Women Win Navy Day At the Head of the Charles, Navy began eighth in the lightweight four and 19th in the lightweight eight. Racing first, the lightweight four started strong by closing their margin on the crew in front of them, Riverside Boat Club, by the Magazine Beach turn. Riverside and Navy brushed each other down powerhouse stretch with Riverside failing to yield to the faster Navy crew. By Harvard’s Weld Boathouse, Navy had moved through Riverside and was able to march through the final mile with- out incident, eventually finishing fifth overall (third amongst collegiate crews), improving three spots from last year. Beginning second from last in the lightweight eight event, Navy raced a great piece. Starting behind Columbia, The button was pressed and the whirl of With the cooperation of mother nature the Navy lightweight crew moved well the motor that lifted the boat bay door was September proved a month of many row- over the first mile. After passing the like music to the ears of the Navy Women’s ing miles on the Severn. Powerboat wakes Weeks Bridge, Navy pushed and made Crew. It was three months since they had posed the biggest challenge as they were as up noticeable ground on the Lions. By last taken to the water and the new season common as mosquitos in a swamp, but the the Elliott Bridge, Navy, Columbia and dawned with the glowing optimism of a 60 strong NWC plowed through, over, and Lwt Story cont’d on page 2 great year to come. Women’s Story cont’d on page 3 Navy Crew Newsletter Page 1 Hwt Story cont’d... 24th out of 33 crews. Navy was the 10th college crew, less than This was our best over- four seconds behind Princeton and Wis- all finish at the Chase consin, finalists at last year’s IRA Regatta. ever. Every crew fin- The Navy coxed four, which was the stern ished ahead of its 2010 four of our 2nd Varsity boat, turned in a placing. Princeton won great third-place finish in the champion- the event with Cornell ship fours event, besting crews from Har- finishing 2nd, only one vard, Stanford and other nationally-ranked second ahead of Navy. programs. Our second varsity fin- Cool temperatures and a blanket of snow ished 2nd among the made this year’s Princeton Chase challeng- 2V crews, one second ing on many levels in addition to the usual- behind Princeton, and ly strong field of crews. In the varsity eight our third varsity crew event, Navy finished 3rd, 9th, 15th and was the fastest 3V in the son. Our 2nd plebe crew posted the fast- event. est time among the B boats, showing our Our top 16 rowers raced twice in Princ- depth on the plebe level as well. eton, doubling up in the coxed fours event. Overall, the Fall has been a great oppor- Navy finished 6th, 9th, 15th and 27th out tunity to log substantial mileage, integrat- of 40, all better placings than last year. ing our strong youngster class (4th at the The plebes also raced at the Chase, fin- Sprints) with our veteran varsity oarsmen. ishing second to Princeton among the The depth of our squad is tremendous, freshmen heavyweight boats for the third boating five varsity eights on a daily basis. year in a row. However, we were closer to We have developed physically and techni- the Tigers than ever before. Knowing that cally into a determined squad with high we have walk-ons in the boat who are still aspirations. We are ready to establish all- figuring out the rowing stroke gives us time levels of winter performance and to great optimism for the spring racing sea- “constantly improve.” Lwt Story cont’d... moved better over the last 3 km to eventu- MIT, all had overlap making for an excit- ally finished sixth, two spots ahead of last ing sprint to the finish while coxswains year. jockeyed for the best line. Ultimately, Navy The second varsity crew had a clean finished seventh in a field of 21 crews. piece and finish fourth amongst 2V boats, At the following weekend’s Princeton while the third varsity beat all other C en- Chase, Navy made a few adjustments in tries, save Cornell. Navy’s fourth varsity the varsity and second varsity lineups and rowed gallantly, besting Dartmouth’s 2V, raced clean pieces in all four of their boats Columbia’s 3V and Penn’s 4V. entered in the lightweight eight event. The The plebe lightweights raced a top boat varsity started a little rocky, taking 1000 which finished third among lightweight meters to find a strong rhythm. However crews and fifth overall in the freshman after settling down and getting to work, eight event. Head Coach Steve Perry com- Navy was able to push their speed and mented following the race, “I thought all Freshman Regatta for this Fall’s final of- our crews raced well. One of ficial competition. All entries raced even our goals was to finish bet- boats and, similar to last year, the Navy ter than last year and they Lightweights won, taking first and second did just that.” Perry added, in their category. “I’m happy with the learning Leading into final exams, Navy will be curve our guys have picked utilizing the newly completed Hubbard up this Fall and am more Hall and focusing their training on longer, and more excited after each low-rating ergs with continued focus on day’s practice. It’s been a lot lifting and some interval training. Most of fun this year watching the importantly, the squad has shown a great entire team pick up more resilience this Fall and improved across the and more speed.” board. They are eager to show how much The plebe crews traveled more speed they can gain by the season to the Rutgers Invitational opener on March 24th versus Princeton. Navy Crew Newsletter Page 2 Women’s Story cont’d... almost 6 seconds over 2nd place University the finale for the Fall racing season. The under them in the quest for miles on the of Pennsylvania and the rest of the 18 boats highlight of the day was the 1st place fin- river. in the race. NWC finished 3rd and 6th in ish of the NWC Novice 8. NWC stormed October started the Fall racing season the JV 8 event. the race by surprise, finishing 15 seconds with the Navy Day Regatta in Philadelphia. It was a tough go at the Head of the ahead of second-place University of Dela- Navy’s varsity boat captured 1st place by Charles as both the NWC championship ware. The 2nd novice 8 finished 7th of the 8 and championship 4 had to yield to 24 entries in that race. NWC had 3 entries challenges from boats behind them forc- in the Collegiate Women’s 8 Race. NWC ing them to the outside on crucial turns finished 3rd .02 seconds behind 2nd place which cost them precious seconds. The George Washington and 10 seconds be- varsity eight finished 32nd and the coxed hind the winner George Mason. The other four finished 16th. two NWC 8’s finished 12th and 14th in the The Head of the Schuylkill was a wash- 25 boat field.