06-06-2023, 07:44 AM
Sunday racing in chronological order
Lightweight women's four grand final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...re&t=1020s
Men's second varsity eight third-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=2358
Lightweight women's eight grand final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=6158
Men's varsity eight second-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=7575
Sunday is always a special day of final racing at the IRA regatta, although the top finals for the men's fours were completed Saturday, and we shouldn't take that away from the athletes. Stanford raced four boats as shown above: the lightweight women's four who raced for lanes yesterday, the lightweight women's eight who raced for lanes Saturday, the men's second varsity eight who won their C/D semifinal to advance to Sunday's C final (third-level final), and the men's varsity eight who finished fifth in their A/B semifinal and progressed to the B final (second-level final).
In the lightweight women's four grand final, Stanford was seeded fourth and started alongside six other boats: Princeton, MIT, Boston University (BU), Georgetown, Wisconsin, and Radcliffe (Harvard). Coming out of the start sequence, Princeton began taking a strong lead, followed not too closely by MIT, Georgetown, and BU (who was in a far lane). Stanford, Wisconsin, and Radcliffe stayed in a three-boat pack through the middle 50% of the race as Princeton extended their lead. Approaching the finishing sprint, MIT closed on Princeton hard but fell short by less than a second. BU sprinted through Georgetown, who finished about a length ahead of the three-boat pack that had broken apart. It was Stanford who couldn't keep up and crossed last in seventh place but still connected to the pack.
The men's second varsity eight won Saturday's C/D semifinal knowing that they could have been in the A/B semifinal if not for 0.322 seconds and Cornell. Today, they lined up against Navy, Wisconsin, La Salle, Drexel, and UCSD in the third-level final of the second varsity eight event. Although Wisconsin was given the favored lane, it was Stanford who pushed out to an early lead which they built to nearly a length by the first 500m. Following Stanford, it was Navy and Wisconsin neck and neck, with Wisconsin scraping out a narrow lead over Navy, who had in turn moved out to a length over the remaining three crews. Funny thing about rowing with a good enough lead, the boat often relaxes, finds its rhythm, and lengthens out more efficiently for even more speed. That was Stanford through the middle 1000m. Coming into the last 500m, Wisconsin tried to mount a charge against Stanford's length lead, but it was Navy who sprinted past Wisconsin, hot on the tail of Stanford. It wasn't enough from Navy, as Stanford held off all challengers in style to win the third-level final for a 13th place overall finish.
The lightweight women's eight grand final saw Stanford seeded second to Princeton according to Saturday morning's race for lanes, and true to form, it was Princeton who jumped out to an immediate lead on Stanford, who had carved out a small lead of their own over the other four-boat pack fighting among themselves to not get dropped. Half a length behind Stanford, it was BU pushing out over Georgetown at the 500m mark. Princeton was uncatchable today, despite Stanford gaining traction and pushing out further over BU. Georgetown had designs as well and drew even with BU by 1250m and began to take ground on Stanford as BU faded. Approaching the line, Stanford held off Georgetown's surge and crossed second for silver, with the rest of the field finishing in the exact order as Saturday's race for lanes.
In the penultimate race of the regatta, the Stanford varsity men lined up against Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, and Cornell in the petite final of the men's varsity eight event to contest places #7 through #12. It is a sign of growth in the sport that such well-resourced and talented programs such as Harvard and Brown are racing in the petite final this year after racing in the grand final last year. Harvard felt the disrespect and burned hard for the early lead off the start, followed closely by a level field. Just before the 500m mark however, Stanford began pushing out with their base speed, earning a little over a deck's lead over Harvard by the 750m. At the 1000m mark, Stanford had gained another two seats on Harvard, but Brown had increased their stroke rate for speed and had drawn level with Harvard. By 1250m, Brown had about a deck over Harvard. Stanford was still pushing out and led Brown by five seats at that point. It turns out that Brown's rate change was sustained through the 1500m mark, where they drew level with Stanford. Stanford couldn't respond to Brown's challenge but continued to hold Harvard at bay, and so the Cardinal finished second in the petite final, notably ahead of Harvard and Dartmouth.
For the lightweight women, it's been a rebuilding effort since covid, and there have been massive roster attrition even after covid under the new coaching regime that might give one pause. However, with a silver medal in the eight, there's no doubt that the future of the program is bright, and Stanford needs to keep finding ways to recruit, retain, and move forward if they want to retake the throne that Princeton has assumed in the wake of the covid non-cancellation.
The men put down a solid effort this weekend, hampered by racing conditions and margins of less than half a second that didn't go their way. The trendline for the program is pointing way up, from 13th in the nation last year to 8th in the nation this year in a sport where every place in the rankings is measured in hundreds of thousands of training meters, sweat, and focus. The grand final was the goal this year, and that speaks to how well the training was going and where the competitive mindset was focused. It'll take a little more next year to elbow their way past meteoric Syracuse and Northeastern into the grand final, but with returning experience and incoming talent, it'll be just a matter of execution next season.
Go Stanford!
Lightweight women's four grand final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...re&t=1020s
Men's second varsity eight third-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=2358
Lightweight women's eight grand final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=6158
Men's varsity eight second-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=7575
Sunday is always a special day of final racing at the IRA regatta, although the top finals for the men's fours were completed Saturday, and we shouldn't take that away from the athletes. Stanford raced four boats as shown above: the lightweight women's four who raced for lanes yesterday, the lightweight women's eight who raced for lanes Saturday, the men's second varsity eight who won their C/D semifinal to advance to Sunday's C final (third-level final), and the men's varsity eight who finished fifth in their A/B semifinal and progressed to the B final (second-level final).
In the lightweight women's four grand final, Stanford was seeded fourth and started alongside six other boats: Princeton, MIT, Boston University (BU), Georgetown, Wisconsin, and Radcliffe (Harvard). Coming out of the start sequence, Princeton began taking a strong lead, followed not too closely by MIT, Georgetown, and BU (who was in a far lane). Stanford, Wisconsin, and Radcliffe stayed in a three-boat pack through the middle 50% of the race as Princeton extended their lead. Approaching the finishing sprint, MIT closed on Princeton hard but fell short by less than a second. BU sprinted through Georgetown, who finished about a length ahead of the three-boat pack that had broken apart. It was Stanford who couldn't keep up and crossed last in seventh place but still connected to the pack.
The men's second varsity eight won Saturday's C/D semifinal knowing that they could have been in the A/B semifinal if not for 0.322 seconds and Cornell. Today, they lined up against Navy, Wisconsin, La Salle, Drexel, and UCSD in the third-level final of the second varsity eight event. Although Wisconsin was given the favored lane, it was Stanford who pushed out to an early lead which they built to nearly a length by the first 500m. Following Stanford, it was Navy and Wisconsin neck and neck, with Wisconsin scraping out a narrow lead over Navy, who had in turn moved out to a length over the remaining three crews. Funny thing about rowing with a good enough lead, the boat often relaxes, finds its rhythm, and lengthens out more efficiently for even more speed. That was Stanford through the middle 1000m. Coming into the last 500m, Wisconsin tried to mount a charge against Stanford's length lead, but it was Navy who sprinted past Wisconsin, hot on the tail of Stanford. It wasn't enough from Navy, as Stanford held off all challengers in style to win the third-level final for a 13th place overall finish.
The lightweight women's eight grand final saw Stanford seeded second to Princeton according to Saturday morning's race for lanes, and true to form, it was Princeton who jumped out to an immediate lead on Stanford, who had carved out a small lead of their own over the other four-boat pack fighting among themselves to not get dropped. Half a length behind Stanford, it was BU pushing out over Georgetown at the 500m mark. Princeton was uncatchable today, despite Stanford gaining traction and pushing out further over BU. Georgetown had designs as well and drew even with BU by 1250m and began to take ground on Stanford as BU faded. Approaching the line, Stanford held off Georgetown's surge and crossed second for silver, with the rest of the field finishing in the exact order as Saturday's race for lanes.
In the penultimate race of the regatta, the Stanford varsity men lined up against Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, and Cornell in the petite final of the men's varsity eight event to contest places #7 through #12. It is a sign of growth in the sport that such well-resourced and talented programs such as Harvard and Brown are racing in the petite final this year after racing in the grand final last year. Harvard felt the disrespect and burned hard for the early lead off the start, followed closely by a level field. Just before the 500m mark however, Stanford began pushing out with their base speed, earning a little over a deck's lead over Harvard by the 750m. At the 1000m mark, Stanford had gained another two seats on Harvard, but Brown had increased their stroke rate for speed and had drawn level with Harvard. By 1250m, Brown had about a deck over Harvard. Stanford was still pushing out and led Brown by five seats at that point. It turns out that Brown's rate change was sustained through the 1500m mark, where they drew level with Stanford. Stanford couldn't respond to Brown's challenge but continued to hold Harvard at bay, and so the Cardinal finished second in the petite final, notably ahead of Harvard and Dartmouth.
For the lightweight women, it's been a rebuilding effort since covid, and there have been massive roster attrition even after covid under the new coaching regime that might give one pause. However, with a silver medal in the eight, there's no doubt that the future of the program is bright, and Stanford needs to keep finding ways to recruit, retain, and move forward if they want to retake the throne that Princeton has assumed in the wake of the covid non-cancellation.
The men put down a solid effort this weekend, hampered by racing conditions and margins of less than half a second that didn't go their way. The trendline for the program is pointing way up, from 13th in the nation last year to 8th in the nation this year in a sport where every place in the rankings is measured in hundreds of thousands of training meters, sweat, and focus. The grand final was the goal this year, and that speaks to how well the training was going and where the competitive mindset was focused. It'll take a little more next year to elbow their way past meteoric Syracuse and Northeastern into the grand final, but with returning experience and incoming talent, it'll be just a matter of execution next season.
Go Stanford!