April 1st Top Ten Results

URI hosted the Yankee Cup and raced UMass, winning by 26 seconds. UNH did not enter a light eight in this race, although they have raced one previously. This is the first we've really seen of URI, and they look to be fast. In the light four UConn beat UMass by 24 seconds.

We did get results for the UCF v MIT race in Florida. UCF beat MIT by 23 seconds in eights and by 20 seconds in fours. MIT kept pressure on UCF for the first 1000, but UCF pulled away in the second. A bit of that margin is no doubt the result of a disparity in water time and 2006 racing experience between UCF and MIT, but UCF continues to show that it is very fast this year. [Update: Race reports tell me that both the UCF and the MIT varsity eights contained novice rowers. UCF's eight raced at about a 33 while MIT rowed at around a 31, no doubt highlighting some of the water time difference. This sounds like a bit of a pick-up race that turned out very well. It brought together two top ten lightweight boats, let FIT heavies in to play too, and was well run and generously hosted by UCF. This is what rowing's all about, isn't it?]

On Lake Carnegie Princeton and Bucknell raced, with Princeton coming out on top by 9 seconds. Princeton also won the fours race by 4 seconds. Princeton's freshman boat raced in the varsity race finishing 8 seconds behind Bucknell. I found this result to be a bit of a surprise because I expected Bucknell to be a bit further back. Conditions were poor again so this race may be further evidence of Princeton's difficulty with rough water. Bucknell's result here suggests they should probably move up in the rankings, but with Knecht Cup right around the corner, I'll wait to make any moves until after that regatta.

Radcliffe faced Georgetown in the most anticipated race between top ten crews this weekend. Radcliffe beat Georgetown by 11 seconds in eights, but Georgetown reversed that result in fours, beating Radcliffe by 10 seconds. The Radcliffe freshmen beat the Georgetown frosh by 23 seconds. This result confirms the rankings but, although 11 seconds is a healthy margin, it's not enough to write the Hoyas out of possibly contending for a medal at year end.

Wisconsin did double duty at the Crew Classic, racing in the heavyweight Cal Cup early in the morning, followed by a later race against the Stanford lights. The Badgers beat Stanford by 21 seconds, similar to Radcliffe's and Princeton's margin over Stanford last weekend. In a close race, Wisco was third in it's Cal Cup heat, only 3 seconds off of the winner.