Middlebury Crew's fall 2009 racing season:

  • October 10: New Hampshire Championships, Pembroke NH
    • Middlebury Crew kicked off the fall racing season with a strong performance in New Hampshire, finishing 2nd in the Men's Open 8+, Men's Open 4+, and 8th in the Women's Open 8+. In each case, the Middlebury crews finished ahead of all other NESCAC and Division 3 competition. Detailed results here.
  • October 17-18: Head of the Charles Regatta, Boston MA
    • The Head of the Charles was a tough weekend for Mid Crew, starting with the cold stormy weather, followed by some bad racing luck kept the team from showing their best. Both men's and women's 8+'s hit debris on their way to the start line, knocking off their skegs. (The skeg is the fin that enables the boat to steer and stay straight.) Without a skeg, neither boat could race properly, and the women did not start their race at all. The men's four was involved in a collision with another boat, coming to a complete stop, and losing considerable time. The team finished the weekend cold and frustrated, but determined to show what they could do a week later at the Head of the Fish.
  • October 25: Head of the Fish Regatta, Saratoga Springs NY

    • The Head of the Fish this past weekend was a great opportunity for redemption: a big race, almost as big as the Charles, against some of the same high-level competition.

    Despite a lineup change necessitated by the flu, the women's varsity 8+ rowed strongly to finish 9th, ahead of traditional powers like Wesleyan, and only a minute behind national champion Williams college. The men's Varsity 8+ (our only boat not affected by illness) placed 5th out of 17 boats, only 11 seconds out of first place, and only 9 seconds off of a Williams College crew that had finished second last week at the Head of the Charles, and that last year won the New England Championships.

    The women's varsity 4+ produced their best race of the season, finishing 9th out of 22 boats. The men's varsity 4+, racing in a lineup just put together that morning out of the remains of a flu-ravaged second 8+, pulled themselves to an 11th place finish, ahead of Amherst's top 4+, and only a few seconds behind the top boats from both Tufts and Vermont.

    The Head of the Fish is also a traditional coming-out event for novice crew, who spend most of the fall learning the basics of the stroke, until they are ready to show their stuff at the Fish. Our novice coach, Scott Robinson, has done a fantastic job getting the new rowers ready, and their results showed it: both men's and women's novice 8's finished 17th out of roughly 30 boats. Both squads are right in the ballpark with their NESCAC competition, and are motivated to train hard over the winter to improve their standing in the spring.