Princeton University Athletics
Young And Talented, Women's Lightweights Hope To Peak During Championship Races
March 21, 2006 | Women's Rowing - Lightweight
March 21, 2006
PRINCETON - The world of women's lightweight crew has been dominated by three programs recently: Princeton, Radcliffe and 2005 national champion Wisconsin. Tiger head coach Paul Rassam believes other programs are knocking on the door, but he also knows that he has a talented and tough group of rowers in Princeton. He doesn't know exactly where they will be by the time the championships roll around, but he believes this crew could grow into something special.
"We're not worrying about anybody else right now," Rassam said during his final week of training before the 2006 season opens in Redwood City, Calif., at the Windermere Cup. "We are just working on our own internal focus and consistent training. Overall, we have better depth than last year, and we're going to have the two boats push each other."
The first varsity boat is expected to have plenty of youth on it, including as many as four sophomores. Rassam will depend on the senior leadership of coxswain Nicole Larrea and 2006 team captain Kim Nakamura.
"Kim is just a tough worker," Rassam said. "She has a good work ethic and a positivity that will help a young, relatively inexperienced crew for a solid unit."
Among the sophomores that will likely make up the young top boat will be Christine Mannion, Caroline English, Sarah Elrod and Julia Schwartz. They might not have much varsity experience, but their performances last year were impressive. The novice boat claimed the 2005 Eastern Sprint title by nearly eight full seconds over Radcliffe. "The sophomores bring a lot of power," Rassam said. "They have a tremendous work ethic and toughness, which I think we needed."
While the individual talent is there, a successful crew is forged in teamwork, and Rassam knows that this team needs to race together to form that bond. That makes the opening weekend important, as Princeton will race three different times, including the season opener against Radcliffe.
While Radcliffe and Wisconsin are easy to circle on the Tiger schedule (Princeton won't see the 2005 champs until the Knecht Cup on Cooper River during the second weekend in April), there are other teams that Rassam believes are working their way into that elite class of crews. Princeton will face two such teams, Stanford (March 25 at the Windermere) and Georgetown (April 22 at home). With numerous tests during the season, Princeton should be as ready as possible by the time the Eastern and IRA Championships roll around.