Princeton University
The Compton Cup: Harvard and MIT
Disaster Averted, But Tiger Heavy 1V Boat Crashes In Compton Cup
April 17, 2010 | Heavyweight Rowing
COMPLETE RESULTS, COURTESY OF ROW2K.com
The result certainly is far from ideal, but the possibilities were far more scary. In the choppy Saturday morning waters on the Charles River, the Princeton heavyweight varsity boat had its rudder cable break at the 1150-meter mark and collided into the Harvard boat. Nobody was injured in the race, which the Tigers were unable to finish.
"It was a tight battle up to that point," said head coach Greg Hughes, who said the Crimson varsity eight was about three seats up at the time. "The rudder cable broke, and the coxswain had no control of the boat. We swerved out of our lane and hit Harvard.
"It could have been a lot of worse," he continued. "Going at our speed, with a collision like that, it could have caused a lot of damage. It could have hurt a lot of people."
The safety precautions inside the boat kept any of the Princeton rowers from going into the water, and the launch was able to get everybody safely back to shore. While Hughes said these things don't happen often in collegiate rowing, both the precautions and the training of both rowers and coaches helped to ensure a safe return.
The Crimson ended up finishing the race in 5:53.01 to retain The Compton Cup, while MIT, which was well back at the time, ended up placing second in 6:19.08.
"It was a great battle," Hughes said. "It would have been great to see the conclusion. But it was a regular season race, and we'll get another shot at them."
Princeton will see Harvard again May 16 at the EARC Championships in Worcester, Mass. The Tigers will have plenty of work to do before that; not only will they compete in New Haven next weekend for The Content Cup against Yale and Cornell, but they'll need to find a new boat for the varsity eight.
Each of Princeton's other three crews will head into next weekend looking to rebound from a tight defeat in what became an exciting morning of racing on the Charles. The Tiger second varsity finished in 5:55.13, less than two seconds behind the Crimson, while the third varsity placed second in a time of 5:58.68, a little more than four seconds behind Harvard.
The novice eight race was also close, with Harvard winning in 5:49.31 and Princeton placing second in 5:52.35. Both the 3V and novice boats had early leads, but Harvard took advantage on its home waters and came away with the sweep.
"It would have been nice to come away with a win or two, or more," Hughes said. "But in every race, we raced hard. I thought Harvard handled the tougher conditions better than we did. They rowed very well, and beat our best today."
Following Princeton's race in New Haven next week, the Tiger heavies will compete one more time at home this season. Princeton will take on the third-ranked Brown Bears during the first Saturday of May.