In a weekend that featured competitions for all four Georgetown crew teams, the heavyweight men walked away winners while the lightweight men and both women’s teams struggled against talented opponents.
The men’s heavyweight team fared well Saturday on the Potomac, taking four of five races from Temple. The Hoyas won four of five hotly contested races on the Potomac, three of which were decided by five seconds or less.
“We’re very pleased right now,” men’s varsity heavyweight Coach Tony Johnson said. “The varsity has not beaten Temple in many years, and they rowed well today.”
The varsity eight won with a time of 5:54.1, edging Temple’s 5:59.2, while the freshman shell had a time of 6:55.2, getting past a Temple boat that rowed stroke for stroke with them throughout the race.
Moreover, both races could have turned out differently.
“They had to come from behind. The varsity eight was very tight and close for a long way, but they were able to eke out a lead and hold it,” he said.
After weeks of frustrating, close losses, Johnson was able to say that the races “were very gratifying for the crews involved.”
The men’s lightweight Hoyas, meanwhile, struggled against two top-notch opponents, finishing behind Princeton in every race Saturday and splitting the second- and third-place finishes with Pennsylvania at the Wood-Hammond Memorial in Princeton, N.J. Georgetown also fell in a head-to-head race against Yale on Sunday.
Johnson said that the week-in, week-out grind of high-level competition has taken its toll on the rowers.
“They’ve had a hard time rowing as well as they’ve been practicing,” he said. “They’ve been racing really good crews, and that makes it hard for them.”
The lightweights have struggled all season, winning just one race in their last three regattas. Princeton swept the races the last time the teams met on April 1 at the Fosburgh Cup.
The lightweight women went to Princeton on Saturday as well and finished behind Princeton in every race. The Hoyas struggled against an elite Tigers squad that easily cruised to victory, sweeping all three races and placing all of its boats ahead of the Hoyas. The Tigers posted impressive 16- and 20-second wins in the varsity four and freshman eight races.
The closest match was the last, the varsity eight. Georgetown’s shell earned a time of 7:21.4, five seconds slower than the Tigers’ 7:16.1.
On Sunday, the heavyweight women traveled to Annapolis to face the Naval Academy. From the beginning, the Midshipmen took control, claiming the freshman eight by 12 seconds.
In the crowded varsity four race that included four varsity boats and the Navy freshman shell, Georgetown’s varsity and freshman boats finished second and third, respectively. The idshipmen’s B boat won the race with a time of 7:56.55.
The Hoya heavyweight men will next race Saturday at Yale and Sunday at Rutgers, while the lightweights will face Rutgers on Saturday. The women’s lightweights stay on the Potomac, where they will meet Wisconsin on Saturday.
Meanwhile the women’s heavyweights hit the water at the Big East championships in Worcester, Mass. on Sunday.
