Women's crew to face important competitions this weekend

With one and two dual meets respectively remaining for Princeton women’s lightweight and open crew rowing teams before the end-of-season championship races, these last weeks play a crucial role in establishing momentum and confidence just before the most important races of the year. Both teams are ranked in the top 10 nationally and have enjoyed excellent seasons so far, and as a result they will be hoping to avoid upsets in the lead-up to the championships.

The lightweight team is three weeks removed from their last dual meet race, with a day of racing fours at the Knecht Cup and a weekend off coming between now and a disappointing third-place finish at the San Diego Crew Classic. In California, Princeton lost to the two top-ranked teams in the country, Stanford and Boston University, and while their performance in the latter race was encouraging, a win their next time out would help put that defeat in the past. This Saturday Princeton hosts Georgetown University on Lake Carnegie for the Class of 2006 Cup in their last dual meet of the season. The Tigers have retained the cup for nine straight years since its inauguration in 2007 and have no reason to believe that this time around should turn out differently. Having beaten the Hoyas by over 19 seconds last year in Washington, DC, the Princeton squad will be a fan favorite on home water this weekend. After facing Georgetown, Princeton will travel to Massachusetts the following weekend to compete in the Eastern Sprints, where the team took third last season and will be hoping to make the podium again this year.

After the lightweight team completes their races, the women’s open crew squad will be in action on Lake Carnegie as well for their second-to-last race of the regular season. Coming off perhaps their biggest win of the year, a 3.5-second upset of rival Yale, the Tigers will look to keep their three-race unbeaten streak alive against Dartmouth, Penn, and Bucknell University on Saturday. As it proved against the Bulldogs, the Princeton squad can outpace any team in the country, but it must avoid a role reversal this weekend as the visiting boats try to upset the Tigers. Princeton has traditionally dominated the Big Green and the Quakers, winning last year’s version of this race by over 12 seconds, so it would be a shame for the team to slip up this late in the season. Having beaten two of their three biggest competitors (Yale and Harvard) for the Ivy League Championship, and having only lost to the third (Brown) by a narrow margin, Princeton has a real chance to claim the title two weeks from Sunday and can’t afford any blow to its confidence and rhythm in the meantime.

With both squads coming off a week of rest and facing relatively weak opponents, the overarchingly successful narrative of their respective seasons so far seems unlikely to change on Saturday. Nevertheless, with championships looming, this weekend’s races represent one more challenge to overcome in the teams’ push for postseason success.