Bowdoin Rowing

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Women Win Dad Vail Again!

Bowdoin’s First Women’s Four completed an undefeated season with a gold medal row in the Open Heavyweight Four at the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta on May 10.  And they won the gold in a squall of biblical proportion,  which only added to the epic character of their season.

The Bowdoin Navy entered six crews and advanced five to the semis and four then on to the finals.  The Lightweight Men went out in Friday’s qualifiers in a very tough heat, but with a very sturdy row.  Our Novice Men advanced to the semis, where they rowed their hearts out, but just missed advancing to the finals.

The Novice Women’s Four capped a tremendous season with a fourth place finish in a national field.  The Second Women’s Four rowed its final in building slop and chop to a sixth place finish.  It was bad enough that coaches expected the next race, the Women’s Open Four to be delayed, but the race went off in spite of the wind driven waves. The weather was in fact bad enough that it delayed the Open Men’s Four by roughly three hours; when the men finally took the course the air had settled, and they rowed to a terrific fourth place finish with the best in the country. It had been eleven years since the men had raced in the finals, and they raced it with class and determination.

But it was the Women’s Open Four that captured the amazement and hearts of the regatta.  Bowdoin led at the bridge in spite of the horrendous conditions, and then the heavens opened and blew down the challenge of the age!  By 1000 meters the rain was blasting the boats, driven by winds gusting over 35 knots.  The crews could not be seen from the bike path, let alone from the stands, until they suddenly emerged out of a wall of rain with 250 meters to go.  The crowd erupted just to see all six crews on the water!  Plowing through the troughs of water, Bowdoin finished seven seconds ahead of U Mass and Nova, to claim its second gold in two years in Philadelphia.

Bowdoin had an epic showing at Dad Vail this year: five crews to the semis, four to the finals, and a gold for the women for 6 consecutive years of medals on the Schuylkill.

Both the First and Second Women’s Fours will compete at Henley Women’s Regatta on 20-22 June. After great success on the national scene, it is time to row abroad!

 

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Really Grand Finals at NE’s!

Bowdoin placed all six of its entries into the Grand Finals at the New England Rowing Championships on May 3, and came away with a gold, two silvers, a bronze, and two 4th place finishes!

The Varsity Women’s Four took the gold with an open water thirteen second win over Amherst and Conn in third. The win capped an undefeated regular season and inspired the crew to enter the Open Heavyweight Four at the upcoming Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia May 9-10. After five consecutive years of medals, 2 of them gold, in the D2-3 event, entering the Open signals the ambition and determination of these women to compete with the best in the country.

The Varsity Men’s Four won a hard fought silver against rival Wentworth Institute of Technology. With a stunning closing move, the Bears gained a boat length of water but came just short of WIT by a second. It was another in a long series of close races with the Wentworth crew and fans the rivalry for the upcoming Dad Vail.

The Novice Women took a silver behind Bates in very tight finish
and the M2V dashed to the bronze in another close race.

The Novice Men and W2V were both 4th by seconds in races that came down to the wire as well.

The Bowdoin Navy came away from NE’s with four medals in six events, and showed once again it is a powerhouse in regional fours competition. Next weekend the team travels to Philadelphia for the storied Dad Vail Regatta, the largest intercollgiate regatta in the country, with entries in six events.

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Great Rowing at Greater Boston

After a terrific regatta at Knecht Cup, we returned to the New Meadows ready to take on New England. At the Greater Boston Invitational on the Merrimack at Lowell, the Bowdoin Navy again showed speed and determination. We earned top three finishes in all eight events we entered, with 3 firsts, 4 seconds and a third.

The First Men showed composure and power as they rowed through host WIT in the last 500 meters. The First Women remain at the top of the field with a :14 win over Bryant with Amherst in third. The Jeffs had some difficulty at the start but rowed through the fleet and will be tough at New Englands. The Novice Women finished 1st and 3rd sandwiching the Amherst women. The Second Men and Second Women took second, as did the Lightweight Men and Men’s Pair. The Novice Men were third.

Next weekend we stay in Maine for the President’s Cup with Bates and Colby in Greene, ME on the mighty Androsscoggin.

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Spring Season 2014

After a great spring break at Camp Bob Cooper we are back to the frozen north! Ice in the river has delayed installation of docks, but we are hard at work back on the ergs while we wait for the thaw.

We will be racing this weekend on Sunday, 3/30, at UMASS Lowell in the eights and fours. This has been shifted from Quinsigamond which is still iced up.

Next weekend we will be practicing at home and then head to Mercer Lake in NJ for The Knecht Cup 4/12-13.

Though the weather continues to be cold, we’re feeling hot after camp and look forward to testing speed as spring creeps into the northeast!

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Speedboats!

A beautiful fall season saw speed boats right through the Navy! In the three races of the head season the top women’s boat won both the Textile and the Snake and was 5th at the Charles. The Men’s First was second twice and 6th at the Charles. Lightweight Men won at Textile and took third in the Open Division at the Snake, and competed with gusto to beat a couple of crews in the elite lightweight event at the Charles. And we had speedy novice crews as well. The Women’s Novice Four sped its way to gold and silver at the Textile and Snake, and the Novice Men’s Fours came second and third in Lowell, and then third in Worcester. We also boated a Women’s Novice Eight which came fourth at the Textile and seventh out of twenty at the Snake!

Hard work and long hours translated to great speed this fall. For the third consecutive year we had both men and women in the top ten at the Charles, which is a great accomplishment. Coupled with the depth and speed of our novice pool, the Navy is looking very competitive for spring! So competitive, that while most of the Navy will be off the water after Dad Vail in May, we are pleased to be taking the women to England to compete in the prestigious Henley Women’s Regatta in June! More speed to come!