Courtesy: Princeton Crew/Tom NowakTo say it hasn't been a pretty season for the 2009 Princeton men's heavyweight rowers would be a solid understatement. But a resilient varsity eight and its veteran head coach are looking forward to a new opportunity, which will come Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond during the 2009 EARC Championships.
Princeton is seeded 11th in the varsity eight competition after completing a 1-6 regular season. The Tigers started off the season by reaching the grand final at the prestigious Copley Cup competition in San Diego and followed with a split at the historic Childs Cup regatta. But since defeating Penn during that first home meet, the Tigers have yet to earn a victory against anybody, including four Ivy League opponents.
"It was clear in San Diego that we had some problems," Jordan said. "The integrity of our race was not what we wanted. With so many traditional races during the regular season, you can't afford to ignore the week-to-week races. We could have recovered in the Childs Cup, or the Compton Cup, or the Carnegie Cup. One of those could have been a springboard."
Instead, the Tigers continued their struggles. A tight loss to MIT in the Compton Cup and a road loss to Cornell and Yale put Princeton in a brutal spot last weekend, when it tried for a season-ending victory over EARC third-seed Brown in the Content Cup. Instead, what has always been a tough week for the Tigers continued with an 8.4-second loss.
While victories haven't come for his team, Jordan has seen something else that has earned his respect. The resilience of his team has kept it working hard and could be the major rallying point needed for this weekend.
"When you lose, it can wear on everybody," Jordan said. "It becomes easy to point fingers or give up. These guys just put their boots back on and show up to work hard the next week. I have been extremely proud of them for that,"
The first varsity will have its work cut out come Sunday morning. Princeton drew the 11:24 semifinal heat, where it will need a top-two finish to earn a place in the championship final. The heat features second-seeded Harvard, fifth-seeded Northeastern and eighth-seeded Columbia, along with lower-ranked teams Navy and Holy Cross. Jordan still believes in the talent that he will send out for the race, but he knows it will need a little more to make a major run at the Eastern and Ivy League titles.
"It's a complex issue," he said. "There is a skill element, a conditioning element and a confidence element. You can't win a championship without all three. I really believe that in college athletics, confidence can get you further than the other two."
Jordan saw enough from last weekend's race against Brown to use the same first varsity lineup for Sprints, so perhaps that is the first hint of confidence. And he believes that, if Princeton can put together a great heat and make the final, he will send a much more confident group to the grand final.
"If we can get on top of them early, I think we'll get some confidence," Jordan said. "I'm proud of the way we're working. It will take a mature effort from the guys, but we will show up Sunday ready to win."
The first varsity is one of four Princeton heavyweight boats that will compete this Sunday. The second varsity is seeded fifth, despite having a fluctuating lineup while Jordan tried different groups for the first varsity. That boat will row in the 10:48 heat against Wisconsin, Northeastern, Columbia, Dartmouth and Holy Cross; only Wisconsin is seeded higher than Princeton. The third varsity is seeded sixth and rows at 9:00 against Wisconsin, Cornell and Boston University. Unlike the first and second varsity competitions, there are only two 3V semifinal heats, meaning Princeton needs only a third-place finish to reach the grand final. The novice eight is in the first of three semifinals and is seeded sixth; the Tigers will row against Harvard, Dartmouth, Penn, Boston University and Holy Cross.
GoPrincetonTigers.com will have a rull recap of the 2009 EARC championships following Sunday's competition.
