Princeton University Athletics
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Third-Ranked Heavyweights Looking To Build Off Strong 2015 Performance
March 24, 2016 | Heavyweight Rowing
LIVE VIDEO l DIRECTIONS TO FINISH LINE
Princeton will race Georgetown this Saturday morning at 8 am to open the 2016 racing season, and the Ivy League Digital Network will again stream all Tiger home races this season. You can access the live video by clicking on the link above this paragraph, and you can watch the GoPrincetonTigers.TV video preview by clicking the play link in the photo above.
A full order of races on Saturday, which includes the open women and the lightweight women, can be found below the season preview.
The rest of the nation may see Princeton differently right now, but the Tigers are viewing themselves in the exact same fashion.
After all, that is how they got here in the first place.
The Princeton heavyweights, which tied California for third in the preseason USRowing national poll, medaled at both Sprints and IRAs for the first time since 2006 last season, and they posted the best performance by an Eastern program at the national championships. It's been a long climb for the program over the six years under Greg Hughes, but Princeton knows it is far from finished.
“The team has a much more solid base from top to bottom, a product of having an extra few weeks at the end of last season,” Hughes said, referring to the additional training prior to Henley last summer. “It is also the team's ability to take that and build off it this year. They didn't rest, didn't take it for granted.
“I don't think they hold themselves in a higher regard,” Hughes added. “The focus is very internal. We will do everything we have control over. We have control over what happens in this boathouse and on this team.”
Princeton went 8-1 last season and earned bronze in both the Sprints and the IRA Championships. The V8 and 2V8 combined to finish 3.95 seconds out of first place in their respective IRA finals; no Eastern program combined to go under four seconds in those two IRA races since 2004.
While a handful of key rowers from those boats graduated, there are still plenty of medalists from those boats, including senior captain Martin Barakso, who competed for Canada at the World Championships last summer.
“He's been great,” Hughes said. “He had a strong winter, including setting the boathouse record for 6000 meters, and he did well on all the other workouts, but he's also getting pushed. He holds himself to a high standard, but he also recognizes when others are hitting their bests.”
Classmates Patrick Eble and Patrick Konttinen were also members of the 2015 varsity eight, and they are among several returners who are having strong preseasons. Hughes worked hard to make sure his guys improve at steady rates this winter, even if it meant some out-of-the-box workouts.
“The focus for winter training is a bit more individual,” Hughes said. “On the machine, each person can look more closely at how they perform individually. Top to bottom, on any given day, more people than we had in years past had done better than they had before. That's difficult to do in college. They work hard academically, but they have gotten better at managing what we do.
“We did introduce some different workouts, just for something different,” he added. “I wanted them to see something new, process it and perform their best on that day.”
While Princeton may have its best combination of top-rate speed and overall depth in a decade, it also knows that there are programs just as loaded this season. Reigning Ivy League champion Yale, voted second in the USRowing poll, followed its Sprints win with a Henley title, while Harvard and Brown remain perennial powers.
And then there is top-ranked Washington and California, but we'll save them for June.
Princeton will face a challenging road schedule this season, with races at both Harvard (April 16) and Yale (April 23). The Tigers will have two home races, including Saturday's season opener against Georgetown.
As much as Hughes' loves Lake Carnegie, he's excited about the daunting April stretch.
“I like going on the road,” he said. “One of the things I love about rowing is that it is an outdoor sport. It's a real challenge. To take it on, site unseen, and take on a tough opponent, is great.”
And it will allow him to continually evaluate that deep roster his staff has put together. He'll need his best boat in an attempt to bring the Ivy/Sprints title back to Princeton, and his rowers know that they can never rest along that journey.
“There is just a lot more competition for every boat,” he said. “Thirteen or fourteen guys who have a real shot. No guarantees, no givens. It's a long season, and I'm not going to limit somebody's development. If somebody is making progress, they are going to get opportunities.”
SATURDAY ORDER OF RACING
Princeton Heavyweight Men vs. Georgetown
8:00 AM • First Varsity
8:12 AM • Third Varsity
8:24 AM • Second Varsity
8:36 AM • Fourth/Fifth Varsity
Princeton Open Women vs. Brown & Ohio State
9:00 AM • B Four/C Four
9:20 AM • Third Varsity
9:40 AM • A Four
10:00 AM • Second Varsity
10:20 AM • First Varsity - Class of 1987 Trophy
Princeton Lightweight Women vs. Radcliffe
11:00 AM • First Varsity - Class of 1999 Cup
11:20 AM • Second Varsity
11:40 AM • Third Varsity