No. 20 Radcliffe Falls to Brown After Race Venue Changed

The No. 20 Radcliffe heavyweight crew’s races proved to be grisly on Saturday when it lost all four races to No. 5 Brown.

Originally taking place at the Charles River, the head-to-head contest changed locations to the Seekonk River in Providence, R.I. Although the water was suitable for racing, the Seekonk River had increasing crosswinds throughout the day. The Bears handled the gusting winds well, but the weather and the change away from their home river did not fare well for the the Black and White.

Radcliffe rowed neck-and-neck with the Bears in the varsity eight race but ultimately lost by 2.43 seconds. Brown finished with a time of 6:27.30, while the Black and White had a time of 6:29.73. Radcliffe exploded off the line first, and the race stayed very even for the first 500 meters, but during the second 500 meters, the Bears moved in on the Black and White and gained a half-boat lead. The loss of the lead seems to have been due to troubles within the Radcliffe team.

“We didn’t exactly know how hard we were able to push ourselves,” said sophomore four-seat Celia Kohl. “The second 500 is where you really settle into your base pace that you’re going to race that middle portion of the race at, and I think that we had more in us that we weren’t aware of.”

Brown looked to push to get the Black and White’s bow, but Radcliffe refused to yield.

The third 500 meters saw the two teams race at the same speed, until the the Black and White moved back in on the Bears in the final 500 meters. Radcliffe’s final sprint did not make up enough of what it lost earlier in the race, and Brown came out with the win.

The following event was less contested: the second varsity eight race saw the Bears easily come out on top.

The Black and White began the race slower than Brown and stayed behind the entire 2000 meters. In the final stretch, Radcliffe was able to push back a little, but Brown was too far ahead at that point to give the Black and White a chance at victory.

Radcliffe rowed at 32 strokes per minute in the loss.

“The good thing is that even though we lost by a lot, it was definitely an underperformance on our part,” said co-captain Rachel Rauh, coxswain of the second varsity eight. “We’ve had some fairly successful practices, and it kind of felt like our race yesterday was a step back, so we really just need to regroup and really figure out how to perform on race day. Everyone needs to get on the same page in terms of what our goals and expectations are.”

The second varsity eight race saw a 6:31.93 finish by the Bears and a 6:44.36 finish from Radcliffe, creating a 12.43 second difference.

The third race of the day was the third varsity eight race. The Black and White lost this matchup by the largest margin of the day, 15.81 seconds. Brown finished in 6:55.73, while Radcliffe rowed the race in 7:11.74.

The day concluded with the varsity fours race. Brown had two teams competing in this event, both of which finished before the Black and White. The Bears’ A and B teams crossed the finish line in 7:31.92 minutes and 7:35.01 minutes, respectively. Radcliffe followed 15.49 seconds after Brown A in a time of 7:47.41.

Nodding towards the future, the Black and White seeks to improve its performance by looking at itself, not the opponent.

“We don’t really tailor our race plan week-to-week based on who we’re competing against,” Rauh said. “The plan really is for us to race our own race and stay focused on what we need to do, rather than reacting to the competition.”

Radcliffe also is taking its losses over the weekend in stride, looking at the positives from Saturday.

“I think this is a great race for us to have in the beginning of the season,” Kohl said. “Obviously, we would have loved to come out with a win, but I think we learned a lot this weekend.”