WOMEN'S CREW 10.26.02
WELLESLEY ROWS ON ROUGH WATER AT SEVEN SISTERS REGATTA
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – The Wellesley College Crew team rowed on the Hudson River in the annual Seven Sisters Regatta, Saturday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. In rough water and weather conditions, Wellesley’s First Varsity Eight boat finished fifth out of five boats while the Second Varsity Eight boat had another strong showing placing second overall.
“Our Second Varsity Eight boat has been rowing well all season long,” said Head Coach Joan O’Hara. “This is their best performance of the season and I am pleased with their accomplishments.”
Due to rough water conditions, the Novice races were not held. Three of Wellesley’s novice boats and one Mount Holyoke boat were swamped when they were overtaken with water during the race. The 2003 Founder’s Cup, presented to the team champion at the Seven Sisters Regatta, was not presented as all races could not be completed due to weather.
Smith College took first place in both the Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Eight races.
Atrocious conditions sink hopes at Seven Sisters races
By ASHLEY HICKS '06
What spectators from this year’s Seven Sisters’ Championship Regatta will remember will most likely not be the times or the placings. Nor will the fact that Smith College of Northampton, Mass., took first place in the first and second varsity races. By far the most memorable string of events on the Hudson River last Saturday was a sequence of five sinking boats which were literally submerged and rescued during racing.
The first race of the day began with less-than-ideal, yet still bearable conditions in the second varsity race. The Blue took second with a time of 14:44.8, behind Smith’s 14:19.4. The times from this and the following race were unusually fast for the 2.7-mile course because of overpowering tail winds.
Racing for the first time together in the second boat’s lineup were coxswain Rachel Schneider ’07, stroke Brittany Clark ’07, Christina Baer ’05, Margaret Herman ’06, Alli Swan ’07, Lisa McDonald ’06, Ashley Shaffer ’06, Caroline Sancken ’07 and bow-seat Rachel Post ’06. “Our second varsity eight boat has been rowing well all season long,” said head coach Joan O’Hara. “This is their best performance of the season and I am pleased with their accomplishments.”
Though it began less than 20 minutes after the previous race, the first varsity heat saw water conditions worsen dramatically. Winds picked up on the wide, unsheltered Hudson water, causing cold wakes to crash over the sides of the boats as they fought errant drifts down the course. With a time of 14:57.4, Wellesley finished fifth out of the five boats in their race, behind Bryn Mawr College, Vassar College, Mt. Holyoke College and Smith, respectively.
The first varsity rowers were disappointed with the race that marked the end of their season, but had little time to reflect once the disastrous novice races were noticed.
On shore, a police cruiser arrived on the scene after Mt. Holyoke’s first novice boat was rumored to have been overtaken with water and to have sunk farther up the course and out of sight.
After about 10 minutes had passed, Wellesley’s first novice boat crossed through the bridge near the spectators’ area. Some began to notice that the boat looked as if it were struggling and, then, that it had stopped completely. The boat’s coxswain Jillian Brooks ’07 related the dramatic ordeal. “We were rowing at full pressure while the waves kept crashing over us. It was a little like surfing and a little like the Titanic.” Six-seat Hilary Jaffe ’04 continued, “When the water in the boat started to cover our chests, we took the oars out because we knew they’d float. The police boat came out an got us after a few minutes in the water, and they pushed our boat to shore.”
The second and third novice boats had similar experiences, though the members of the second boat were kept in the frigid waters for much longer than anticipated. Coxswain Tori Lo ’07 told her rowers to stay in the boat until the last possible moment and, then, to jump out as the boat began to go under. “The entire time my boat remained calm. I would like to think that this whole situation doesn’t bring us down at all.”
Third novice coxswain Deena Sharuk ’07 was dissatisfied with the way race marshals handled the situation. “The officials definitely should have stopped the race after the first boat went down. I hate to think what their lack of foresight could have meant for us.”
As soon as the rowers from each boat were rescued by the police, they were given lifejackets and foil blankets to speed up the warming process. Since they were drenched upon landing, the members of all rescued boats had to run to a warming room in the Vassar College boat house where dry clothes and varsity rowers awaited them. Their efforts were not in vain, as the majority of the athletes recovered quickly. Three of the 27 girls who had been in the water were hospitalized as a precaution and released later that afternoon.
Silver plates were awarded to Smith and Mt. Holyoke for their first place wins in the first and second varsity races, respectively. The 2003 Founder’s Cup, which is annually presented to the overall team champion at the Seven Sisters’ Regatta, was not presented as all results could not be calculated. At the end of the day, Wellesley’s coaches were extremely impressed with the mature and collected manner with which the team handled the unfortunate situation. Assistant coach Seth Davis summed up the sentiment perfectly, saying, “It may not have been a good day for certain boats, or for rowing in general, but it was a great day for Wellesley crew. These ladies took control of an unexpected situation and turned it into something memorable.”
It seemed like a nice enough day...
We were goofing around as usual...
We were pumped...
We thought, "Oh yeah, we can definitely handle this."
Man, but it sure was taking a long time to row out to the starting point... where the heck is the starting point???
Then Deena started getting cold... not good to have a cold coxswain... she was not happy...
I got called a minion for the first time... I didn't even know what a minion is... hm... didn't have time to think about it though... there was water flooding into the boat... is water supposed to flood into the boat?
Hm... so our coxswain told us to row like crazy to get to the dock... we were definitely close... we had just passed under the last bridge... oh, so much for that idea... we couldn't get our oars out of the water any more... "We're going down! Abandon ship! Oh wait, don't abandon ship! Get back in the boat!" Deena realized that this was disgusting Hudson water. Thank goodness we had a smart coxswain! I would have thought that we had to flip the boat over (and it would have sunk even more if we tried to do that).
Very cold water - I heard two numbers, one said it was 42 degrees and one said it was 49. I don't really care... I care that it took forever for the launch to come because they were apparently busy helping the other four boats that sank before us and the boat from Mt. Holyoke that crashed into shore and cracked in half. We made a mad dash to get warm once we made it to shore.
Didn't expect this to happen...
Quite the story. Shows how awesome Wellesley crew girls are. I was massaged by probably 7 girls and taken such good care of. You guys are amazing! I ended up getting so cold that my blood sugar dropped to less than half of minimum from shivering so much. They put me on an IV and oxygen and took an EKG in the ambulance. Meg and I chilled in the hospital while they monitored our temperature. Dedicated Meg spent her birthday in the hospital and then still came and worked two shifts at Munger Mash. She is amazing! Oh, and talk about dedication - Deena swam in the freezing cold water to save Carlos (don't worry, he's fine) and Michelle waded to help save the boats. Yay crew girls!
