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Women's Lightweights Have Golden Look, Top Goals For 2015 Eastern Sprints
May 01, 2015 | Women's Rowing - Lightweight
In 2011, the Princeton women's lightweight rowing team stood atop the Eastern Sprints medal dock with its sixth gold medal in program history, and its first since 2003. At that same time, halfway around the world, Becky Kreutter was excelling in three sports, none of which happened to be rowing.
This Sunday, Kreutter will try to lead that same Princeton program to its seventh gold.
It's been an amazing journey for both Kreutter and this Princeton squad, which began a rebuilding process in 2012 that demanded dedication and work ethic to build back to national contention.
“You walk in the first day of college and think, I might try something new. Maybe I'll try rowing,” Kreutter said. “It really is a huge learning curve, because you have people who have been rowing for 4-5 years, and you're asked to step in a boat with them. It elevates your own level of learning, because every day you're wondering 'Is this my mistake?' and 'Am I making the boat go like this?'
“And most of the time, it is,” Kreutter said.
But she stuck with it, and found a classmate in Julia Wendt, who would eventually join her as co-captain, and the two have become the leaders of a young, talented squad. Outside of the two senior co-captains, everybody else in the varsity boat is an underclassman.
The future is bright for Princeton, but the Tigers believe the present is as well. And they plan on showing it Sunday morning on Cooper River during the 2015 EAWRC Championships — better knows as the Eastern Sprints.
Princeton entered the season ranked sixth in the nation, but it quickly established itself as one of the boats to watch. Following a competitive opener in San Diego, the Tigers took down several fast boats in the Knecht Cup. They lost to reigning national champion Radcliffe by about a second, and they flipped that result one week later on the Charles River to regain The Class of 1999 Cup.
Kreutter never won that Cup, so it was a thrill to bring it back to the Shea Rowing Center. But those two races against Radcliffe brought much more to the team.
“We needed that Knecht Cup to show us that we're just a second off, so it's not that crazy of a goal,” she said. “We needed that race to solidify our confidence going into the Charles race. Definitely, having a younger boat means that every single race, we're coming together a lot better. You can feel that connection each race getting sharper.”
The increased confidence and connection, which carried on to the Class of 2006 Cup win last weekend over Georgetown, makes Princeton a prime threat Sunday for an Eastern championship. While it is understandable to view this as a two-boat race, especially considering Princeton and Radcliffe have split a pair of thrillers this season, teams like Boston University and Wisconsin have the track record of improved postseasons and can't be overlooked.
“There is definitely a mentality going into the race that we can't discount any of the teams we are facing,” Kreutter said. “When you get down to the race, you can think about all of the scenarios … but at the end of the day, you have to get in your boat, trust your coxswain and the rowers around you, and go as fast as you can to the line.”
While the varsity boat will be the main focus, the rest of the program has golden hopes for the weekend. The 2V has been improving since a loss to Radcliffe two weeks ago, and they are hoping to reverse that outcome Sunday.
“I'm extremely impressed with the gains we have made as a boat,” junior Gabriella Pezzini said. “Our season has been all about work — volume on the erg, technical work in small boats, lots of racing experiences. We push each other to develop that work into speed, whether we are racing each other in 4's or finding our edge in the 8. With every practice and race, the focus and competitive spirit within our boat continues to make us faster.
“Lightweight teams across the country are getting deeper, making the 2V event intensely competitive,” she added. “Our boat has risen to that higher standard. We have an excited and incredibly talented group in the 2V poised to defend our program in Camden.”
The 2V has had different development steps along the way. They split into a pair of 4s at the Knecht Cup, and one of those boats took silver. They fell by eight seconds on the Charles River, but that aided the development that they hope will put their boat in front Sunday.
“Coming out of the Radcliffe race, we knew we needed to develop more aggression at the start and a collected boat feel,” she said. “Collection became our priority for technical work in practice, and that focus translated to speed against the Georgetown 1V. That race proved that we have the potential to really excel this weekend. The key will be putting all these pieces together and executing our race plan. This race is everything we've been working toward. We are ready to prove ourselves and make a statement against Radcliffe and BU.”