[cardcrimson]

Summary: Job well done.  The three Stanford boats are moving on to their respective A finals with generally very little extra energy spent.

Day 2 livestream replay: https://www.ncaa.com/video/rowing/2023-0...play-33469

1V: 33:51
2V: 1:10:32
V4: 1:57:51

1V: In the first semi (not Stanford's), the qualifiers were Princeton, Penn, and Texas in that order, with about one second separating them all.  I don't think anyone was expecting Texas to finish behind Penn, and it was only recently that Princeton had even beaten Texas in their late April dual.  Many people thought Texas could rediscover their magic and reassert dominance.  Or, maybe all three boats were just staying side-by-side in some sort of Prisoners Dilemma compact to not expend too much energy before the A final.  Syracuse was five seconds behind Texas, which is a decent margin.  Who was playing games, and did anyone of those three really blow out their legs trying to keep up?  Uncharacteristically, kal finished at the back of the pack, behind even SMU, and they looked tired crossing the line.

In Stanford's semifinal, it was Stanford winning, followed by Washington and Yale, with about three seconds between each boat.  Michigan and Virginia had some overlap on Yale and were threatening at the line, so Yale was pushed at the end.  Their higher stroke rate at the line does indicate a bit of urgency.  In the A final: three Ivy League schools, two Pac-12 schools, and one defending national champion Big 12 school...it's been a while since the Big 10 was shut out of the A final.

2V: Stanford won their semifinal about four seconds ahead of nearly dead-heated kal and Yale.  This is interesting because Yale's 2V is essentially undefeated this season (as they were last season) and was top seeded coming into the regatta, but in this semifinal, they were consistently rowing at a higher stroke rating and still not quite as fast as Stanford or kal.  While Yale's rating gave them an early lead, Stanford understroked them and moved ahead of Yale by the 1000m mark (halfway).  I don't think that bodes well for Yale's chances of repeating as 2V champions tomorrow.

In the other semifinal, Washington, Texas, and Princeton advanced in that order.  Washington's 2V is fast; they beat Stanford at the Pac-12s, though in the heats, Stanford reversed that result.  I didn't expect the Texas 2V to finish behind Washington; at the San Diego Crew Classic in late March, Texas swept every Pac-12 crew in all boat classes.  In that late April dual, Princeton's 2V was 0.1 sec faster than Texas.  I don't think Princeton took it up at the end; maybe those late race moves will cost Texas and Washington tomorrow.

In both semis, there was about a 5-6 gap between third place and fourth place, so while there may have been early pressure on the qualifying spot, there likely wasn't pressure toward the end of the race.  Sometimes this happens halfway through, sometimes this happens 2/3 of the way through the race...this does affect how energy is conserved in a race going forward.  And a lot of this is internal boat strategy that will never be made public, so speculation will always be just that.  Three Pac-12 boats, two Ivy League boats, and one Big 12 boat...good to see the Pac-12 represented.

V4: In the first semi, Yale won, with Stanford and Brown following.  Stanford came out strong, but Yale committed to a slightly higher stroke rate and pulled even at the halfway mark.  Yale held onto that rate to win by a little over four seconds.  Stanford may or may not have been pressed by the battle for third happening between Brown and kal.  kal started strong in third but crossed fourth, two seconds behind Brown and just out of the A final, so they will only have one (2V) boat in an A final.  Credit to Brown for rowing a steady race and chasing down kal over the length of the course.

In the other final, the top four boats were Texas, Princeton, Virginia, and Washington at the line, separated by a little over a second apart each in that order.  Virginia sprinted through Washington in the last 400m, which will probably cost them tomorrow, but the Cavs' ticket to the A final is booked, and Washington has nothing but regrets to fuel tomorrow's race for 7th.  In the 4+ boat class, you'll note that the coxswains are at the front (the bow) of the boat, laying down in the compartment with just their heads sticking out.  This makes it difficult for coxswains to notice when crews behind them are mounting a charge.  In an eight where a coxswain is sitting up and can turn their head around, a coxswain would make a call to the crew to match any sprints from trailing crews, but in a 4+, this gets tough.  I have to imagine that the Washington four would have been able to hold off Virginia if the coxswain could have made the right calls in time.

One race to go, for the season, and for some, their collegiate careers.  Last race, fast race!

Great write up, thanks! The only bummer for me, well for my friend, was that Brown overtook Kal's V4 pretty early, and held on to knock them to the Lower Finals. Stanford did great, though.

[cardcrimson]

Summary: Job well done.  The three Stanford boats are moving on to their respective A finals with generally very little extra energy spent.

Day 2 livestream replay: https://www.ncaa.com/video/rowing/2023-0...play-33469

1V: 33:51
2V: 1:10:32
V4: 1:57:51

1V: In the first semi (not Stanford's), the qualifiers were Princeton, Penn, and Texas in that order, with about one second separating them all.  I don't think anyone was expecting Texas to finish behind Penn, and it was only recently that Princeton had even beaten Texas in their late April dual.  Many people thought Texas could rediscover their magic and reassert dominance.  Or, maybe all three boats were just staying side-by-side in some sort of Prisoners Dilemma compact to not expend too much energy before the A final.  Syracuse was five seconds behind Texas, which is a decent margin.  Who was playing games, and did anyone of those three really blow out their legs trying to keep up?  Uncharacteristically, kal finished at the back of the pack, behind even SMU, and they looked tired crossing the line.

In Stanford's semifinal, it was Stanford winning, followed by Washington and Yale, with about three seconds between each boat.  Michigan and Virginia had some overlap on Yale and were threatening at the line, so Yale was pushed at the end.  Their higher stroke rate at the line does indicate a bit of urgency.  In the A final: three Ivy League schools, two Pac-12 schools, and one defending national champion Big 12 school...it's been a while since the Big 10 was shut out of the A final.

2V: Stanford won their semifinal about four seconds ahead of nearly dead-heated kal and Yale.  This is interesting because Yale's 2V is essentially undefeated this season (as they were last season) and was top seeded coming into the regatta, but in this semifinal, they were consistently rowing at a higher stroke rating and still not quite as fast as Stanford or kal.  While Yale's rating gave them an early lead, Stanford understroked them and moved ahead of Yale by the 1000m mark (halfway).  I don't think that bodes well for Yale's chances of repeating as 2V champions tomorrow.

In the other semifinal, Washington, Texas, and Princeton advanced in that order.  Washington's 2V is fast; they beat Stanford at the Pac-12s, though in the heats, Stanford reversed that result.  I didn't expect the Texas 2V to finish behind Washington; at the San Diego Crew Classic in late March, Texas swept every Pac-12 crew in all boat classes.  In that late April dual, Princeton's 2V was 0.1 sec faster than Texas.  I don't think Princeton took it up at the end; maybe those late race moves will cost Texas and Washington tomorrow.

In both semis, there was about a 5-6 gap between third place and fourth place, so while there may have been early pressure on the qualifying spot, there likely wasn't pressure toward the end of the race.  Sometimes this happens halfway through, sometimes this happens 2/3 of the way through the race...this does affect how energy is conserved in a race going forward.  And a lot of this is internal boat strategy that will never be made public, so speculation will always be just that.  Three Pac-12 boats, two Ivy League boats, and one Big 12 boat...good to see the Pac-12 represented.

V4: In the first semi, Yale won, with Stanford and Brown following.  Stanford came out strong, but Yale committed to a slightly higher stroke rate and pulled even at the halfway mark.  Yale held onto that rate to win by a little over four seconds.  Stanford may or may not have been pressed by the battle for third happening between Brown and kal.  kal started strong in third but crossed fourth, two seconds behind Brown and just out of the A final, so they will only have one (2V) boat in an A final.  Credit to Brown for rowing a steady race and chasing down kal over the length of the course.

In the other final, the top four boats were Texas, Princeton, Virginia, and Washington at the line, separated by a little over a second apart each in that order.  Virginia sprinted through Washington in the last 400m, which will probably cost them tomorrow, but the Cavs' ticket to the A final is booked, and Washington has nothing but regrets to fuel tomorrow's race for 7th.  In the 4+ boat class, you'll note that the coxswains are at the front (the bow) of the boat, laying down in the compartment with just their heads sticking out.  This makes it difficult for coxswains to notice when crews behind them are mounting a charge.  In an eight where a coxswain is sitting up and can turn their head around, a coxswain would make a call to the crew to match any sprints from trailing crews, but in a 4+, this gets tough.  I have to imagine that the Washington four would have been able to hold off Virginia if the coxswain could have made the right calls in time.

One race to go, for the season, and for some, their collegiate careers.  Last race, fast race!

Great write up, thanks! The only bummer for me, well for my friend, was that Brown overtook Kal's V4 pretty early, and held on to knock them to the Lower Finals. Stanford did great, though.