Both Princeton women’s rowing teams were in action this weekend, as the lightweight team participated in the Eastern Sprints, the first of two series of championship races, while the openweight team wrapped up its regular season against Duke.
Coming off a dominant win over Georgetown their last time out, the lightweight team headed to Lake Quinsigamond, Massachusetts, to race in the EAWRC Championships, more broadly known as the Eastern Sprints. Coming into the race, the Tigers knew they would be facing a tough battle to repeat their podium finish from last year, as the two teams who finished above them last season and bested them this season as well, Harvard and Boston University, were participating in the race. In addition to these familiar foes, the always competitive University of Wisconsin team was also part of the field. Despite its momentum coming into the race, Princeton was unable to avenge its recent losses, falling to the Terriers by over 28 seconds and placing fourth overall, with the Crimson and the Badgers rounding out the top three. The story was the same in the 2V race, with the Princeton boat coming in fourth, although this time only trailing leaders Wisconsin by 19 seconds. Despite this disappointing finish, the Tigers will be encouraged by the prospect of a rematch on the near horizon, with the NCAA Championships approaching at the beginning of June, and with them a chance to make up for this weekend’s lackluster result.
Back on Lake Carnegie, the ninth-ranked openweight team faced 19th-ranked Duke in its final dual meet of the season. Princeton has not faced Duke in recent season, unlike most of its opponents, and as result entered the race with an increased sense of uncertainty. Nevertheless, the Tigers have not lost since the first race of the season, and never risked ending that streak on Saturday. The first varsity boat outpaced the Blue Devils by over 15 seconds to remain undefeated at home on the season, and the second varsity followed suit with a much closer three-second victory.
With this success behind them, the Tigers can now focus on the upcoming Ivy League Championships, where they will be expected to finish in the top two and hope to take home the title. The Orange and Black will have overcome every Ivy League team they have faced this season save Brown, to whom they lost in a tight race on the first day of the season. However, the Tigers have shown great improvement since that defeat early in the year and have every reason to believe they can upset the Bears this time around.