Girls Crew Sports Spring Sports

G1 Defeats Kent for the First Time in Eight Years

Andover’s G1 welcomed three new rowers this year.

Andover Girls Crew’s G1 pushed across the finish line 10.1 seconds ahead of Kent, defeating Kent for the first time since 2010 and receiving the race trophy. Unfortunately, the second boat hit a buoy at the turn, resulting in their being disqualified, and Kent beat out G3 by a mere 2.5 seconds.

Captain Lila Brady ’18 said in an email to The Phillipian, “This race was the best race our G1 has ever had, definitely the best race I have ever rowed in. Our stroke seat, Olivia, kept everyone incredibly unified; Emelie was a great motivator and kept us very together and calm. This is a huge race for us, and every year there is a trophy for this race against Kent that goes to the winner of the first boat race. Andover hasn’t won it since 2010.”

A new warmup routine and the addition of Mia Levy ’21 to the G1 boat contributed to the team’s success, according to Brady.

Captain Lila Brady ’18 said, “This year we changed our prerace routine and had a solid routine that got everyone really in the right mental space. The G1 race was the only Andover team to win, and we had a new lineup with beast freshman Mia Levy ’21, who fit in so well and was a great teammate.”

Mia Levy ’21 said in an email to The Phillipian, “We actually had a faster stroke rate during the race than we had prepared/planned for, but it felt really good, and we all felt really together and in sync. After the race, our coach emailed us and told us to all think of something we noticed during the race that we are going to focus on this week during practice, so I think we all have a pretty good idea of one or two things we want to specifically focus on. We also took a lot away from our race with Kent, like even if we have the speed to beat them we still have tons to work on and there will always be something to improve. I think we are all [really] excited to see where the season can go after this!”

G1 had a successful start and managed to maintain a high rate, according to Janneke Evans ’18.

Evans said, “We rowed extremely well this race, our intensity was super high the whole race, which was reflected in the results and our really strong start. For our next race, I think we could do a better job getting the open water earlier.” B

rooklyn Wirt ’21 added, “G1 did amazingly… We had a tough week of practice, and Kent is a big rival because they are a really good team, and even though some of the boats lost, it was still a good day, and hopefully we’ll race them again.”

The team is already showing improvement from last season and is also working towards international regattas that it will compete in this summer, according to Brady.

Brady said, “We are so incredibly excited to see the hard work that everyone has put in paying off. The team is already averaging 5 seconds faster on our erg tests than this point last season, and I couldn’t be more excited to see us push to our full potential. We just announced yesterday that we will be going to the Henley Women’s Regatta in England this summer, training for an extra couple of weeks and competing at the international regatta in June.”

Andover will next race against Boston College High School on April 21.