Windermere Classic - Day Two

As expected, Radcliffe leaves Windermere undefeated and as the top lightweight boat competing. On Saturday afternoon Radcliffe defeated Loyola by 29 seconds and on Sunday defeated Stanford by 21 seconds. These were relatively easy wins for Radcliffe and proved that their speed against Princeton was no fluke. Below is Radcliffe over Stanford.


Princeton, meanwhile, also went on to win their next two races, by 30 seconds over Stanford and by 31 over Loyola. Loyola, by the way, while coming to Windermere and getting knocked around a bit, put in a credible performance. Although they lost to Stanford by 12 seconds, they were just about as close to Radcliffe and Princeton as Stanford was. This is a crew willing to take its licks early in the season to create what will undoubtedly be a faster boat later. They have the potential to gain on Stanford as the season goes on. Below is Princeton over Loyola.


If you paid attention to the times I listed above, you'll notice a curious thing - Princeton beat both Stanford and Loyola by more than Radcliffe did. On Sunday, when the weather was much nicer, Princeton's time was 6 seconds faster than Radcliffe's. Even in Saturday's second race, Princeton was less than a second off of Radcliffe's (it's bad to compare times in different races, but there were stakeboats here and relatively steady conditions so...). Also on Sunday, Princeton was 11 seconds faster than it's own 2V, which was faster than the 1V on Saturday. Of course, all that and $2.50 will get you a cup of coffee. The only time it really mattered, Radcliffe was 6 seconds better than Princeton. I point it out because Princeton is now a crew bent on revenge at the Knecht Cup. Radcliffe can't sit still (they wouldn't anyway) and beat Princeton by a boat length again. (Of course, a new kid comes to play at Knecht.)

The showdown between the Princeton 2V and the Cal heavyweight 3V never happened and Princeton raced Sonoma State's heavyweight eight, winning by 24 seconds. Below is Princeton 2V over Sonoma State.