Players Mentioned
Open Women Eye Unbeaten Brown, Loaded Field At Sunday's Ivy Championships
May 13, 2015 | Women's Rowing - Open
LIVE RESULTS l LIVE VIDEO l RACING SCHEDULE l CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
PRINCETON HISTORY AT THE IVY/EAWRC CHAMPIONSHIPS
The challenge facing the ninth-ranked Princeton open women this Sunday is both daunting and familiar.
The Tigers — winners of 14 Ivy League Championships, including both the 2013 and 2014 titles — will head to Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J., as the second-seeded boat for the 2015 Ivy League Championships. Brown, ranked fifth nationally, is the top seed after going unbeaten against Ivy competition this year.
This was the case in 2014 as well, and Princeton shocked the then-top-ranked Bears with a brilliant early sprint to go wire-to-wire for their second straight title. However, that Princeton boat was only trying to overcome a three-second loss during the regular season.
This time, the gap was eight seconds. In a marathon, eight seconds is nothing.
In 2000 meters, eight seconds is something quite significant.
But you can say the same about the work Princeton has done since that March 28 showdown on Lake Carnegie against the Bears.
“Without a doubt, we're a different boat,” senior captain Faith Richardson said. “Definitely this has been one of the tougher springs I think we have had as a team in terms of with how hard we train to make up for all the time we lost [in the winter].
“Eight seconds is a lot,” she added. “It's a substantial margin to make up.”
Of course, Princeton won't be the only team trying to knock off the favored Bears this weekend. Ivy League teams make up a quarter of the latest USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Division I national poll. The Tigers have victories over ranked boats in Yale (1.4 seconds), Harvard (.7 seconds) and Cornell (9.6 seconds), so they know the level of competition that will spread across Cooper River when the crews line up for the 3:15 V8 grand final.
All finals, which will begin at 12:45 pm, will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network. The morning heats will be available as audio only. You can access those with the link atop this release.
“The Ivy League is really special in that there are really fast boats in the league that we can test ourselves against once before we line up against them at the Ivy League Championships,” said sophomore Georgie Howe, the lone freshman in the victorious Princeton championship boat last year.
“That [2014] race was a climax for us,” Howe said. “We trained really hard throughout the season … we were all about self-improvement as a boat. We were able to pull off a really good race at the Ivy League Championship and come away with the win. We were really proud of that, not just the result, but the race itself.”
This Princeton team has been proud of the work it has done, overcoming lost water time following the brutal winter, to prepare itself for the challenges of this weekend. But work alone will not be enough. In the moment, Princeton will need to execute its best performance of the season under trying conditions. The Tigers have tried to replicate that level of competition throughout the spring against boats that will be competing on Lake Quinsigamond for their own Ivy titles.
“You have to be able to race your own race, but at the same time, you have to have an understanding of what is going on around you,” Richardson said. “We have had opportunities with four-boat races to get that experience. We do speed orders on Wednesdays so we can duke it out with the men's boats, who are obviously a lot faster than us, but we can stagger it out and make it a race. For the most part, we've done a pretty good job of staying within ourselves and race our own race and always stay competitive.
“Two 2Ks this Sunday will be a challenge, but based off the training we have done this spring, I think our team will do a good job of handling it,” she added. “We have definitely put the work in, so there is a definite confidence that comes with that.”
Trust in each other will be crucial, but trust in senior coxswain Olivia Sayvetz will be mandatory. When you consider the potential for 4-5 boats at the 1500-meter mark still in contention, Sayvetz will be the one calling the shots.
“Brown is going to be there, Yale is going to be there, Harvard is going to be there, Cornell is going to be there,” Howe said. “It's going to be really tight, so in a six-boat race like that, it's going to be really important to keep internal, keep your eyes in the boat, focus on the back in front of you, swing together and try to listen to Olivia as much as possible.”
Princeton will also be vying for the team points title — the Ivy League title goes to the V8 winner, but the Tigers had won three straight team points titles before Brown took that honor last season. The Tigers will be seeded either second or third in every major race, and each will be looking to avenge at least one Ivy loss during their regular season.
SEEDINGS
The seedings for the 2015 Ivy League Women's Rowing Championship are:
First Varsity Eight
1. Brown
2. Princeton
3. Yale
4. Harvard-Radcliffe
5. Cornell
6. Columbia
7. Penn
8. Dartmouth
Second Varsity Eight
1. Brown
2. Princeton
3. Yale
4. Harvard-Radcliffe
5. Penn
6. Dartmouth
7. Cornell
8. Columbia
Third Varsity Eight
1. Yale
2. Princeton
3. Brown
4. Harvard-Radcliffe
5. Cornell
6. Dartmouth
7. Penn
Varsity Four A
1. Brown
2. Yale
3. Princeton
4. Harvard-Radcliffe
5. Columbia
6. Cornell
7. Penn
8. Dartmouth
Varsity Four B
1. Yale
2. Brown
3. Princeton
4. Harvard-Radcliffe
5. Penn
6. Dartmouth
7. Cornell
8. Columbia
Varsity Four C
1. Harvard-Radcliffe
2. Princeton C
3. Brown
4. Penn
5. Cornell
6. Dartmouth
7. Princeton D