Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Lightweight Captain Madeline Davis Makes U-23 National Squad; Emma Bedard '11 Makes Canadian 4x
July 13, 2009 | Women's Rowing - Lightweight
Madeline Davis, who graduated this past spring after serving as the lightweight women's crew captain, will continue competing on international waters. Davis and teammate Lindsay McAlpine won a thriller to claim the women's lightweight 2x spot for the upcoming World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, later this month. Teammate Emma Bedard '11 will also compete in Racice for the Canadian 4x squad.
"I've definitely been thinking about this for a while," said Davis, who led Princeton to a silver medal at the 2009 EAWRC Championships. "Being on a national team has always been a long-term goal of mine."
The process began two days after the IRA championships, as Davis began her training in Philadelphia for the Vesper Boat Club. She was paired with McAlpine, an open rower from Brown. Under the guidance of coach Scott Wisniewski, the twosome trained for the one-race showdown July 9 at Mercer Lake. As a women's lightweight rower, Davis' options were limited.
"For the lightweights, it's interesting," she said. "Most other rowers can either sweep or scull after college, but to row beyond college for the lightweight women, you can only scull. Thus, to make an Olympic team, you basically have to be ranked one or two in the country. For Worlds, there are only seven seats available."
Four of the top rowers were part of the women's lightweight 2x final, as the Vesper Boat Club A duo of Davis and McAlpine took on the Durham Boat Club team of Emily Boucher and Liz Euiler.
"It was a really tight race," Davis said. "We were less than one second down at the midway point. It was a hard race, with headwind and chop, so the final time was slow. We pulled it out at the end. It was one of the most exhausting races, but the excitement of winning helped block out the pain."
Unlike some of the bigger boats, where selections happen after camps, this win guaranteed Davis a spot on her first national team. It also gives her a chance to compete internationally for the first time, excluding competitions in Canada. It will also give her a far different experience than she became used to at Princeton.
"It is going to be both exciting and scary," she said. "When we would get to [EAWRC] Sprints, we had seen everybody once. When we got to IRAs, we had seen them multiple times. Here, we have no idea what we'll be going up against. It's going to be exciting. Anything can happen."
While there will be several differences in Racice than she was accustomed to at Princeton, Davis credits her time at the University under head coach Paul Rassam with setting her up for this opportunity.
"Being in a program where the goal of being the best in the country is great preparation," she said. "We were accustomed to aiming for the top, which isn't the same at every program. We always aimed for the ultimate goal; it was go big or go home."
Bedard, a 2009 teammate of Davis, learned that she would join Ricki Baxter, Rebecca Gregory and Kathryn Twyman in the Canadian lightweight women's 4x at the Under 23 World Championships. The Canadian selection camp was held in London, Ont., where Bedard raced her way onto the quad. The work was not yet finished, though; the foursome needed to race time trials to qualify for the Championships. The boat accomplished that feat, and Bedard will join Davis in Racice later this month.
"I am incredibly happy for -- and proud of -- Madeline and Emma," head coach Paul Rassam said. "To represent your country at a World Championships is clearly something very special. Both of them are hard workers and they deserve this moment. Seeing as how Madeline recently graduated from our team and will no longer be able to compete as a collegiate athlete, I am particularly pleased for her as she looks to continue her athletic career.
"I am not only excited for what this means for Emma and Madeline as individuals, but am also thrilled for what this means for our team," Rassam added. "The more athletes we have getting a taste of the next level of training and racing, the greater their impact will be on our squad. It seems that we have more and more of athletes interested in becoming internationally accomplished oarswomen, and this trend will only stengthen our group."
The U.S. women's lightweight 2x is a self-funded boat; in order to defray some of the costs, the Vesper Boat Club is hosting a Beef and Beer fundraising dinner below. The dinner will be held at Vesper, on Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, at 7:30 pm this Friday, July 17th. The team created a Facebook event to invite people, which can be accessed here. For those who can's make it but still wish to contribute to the trip, donations of any amount are appreciated and will be accepted here.