Over a hundred athletes, coaches, parents and alumni watched intently as the Andover Girls Crew team christened its new boat, the Bache, on Saturday. The boat was a donation from devoted alumni, parents and friends of Andover crew. The Bache family, who funded a large portion of the boat’s cost, attended the race on Saturday. Katie Fanikos ’11 said, “Having the Bache family there, as well as all of our other Andover supporters, was so motivational and inspiring.” The girls’ first boat rowed an outstanding race, battling Exeter for every stroke. The three teams racing, Andover, Exeter and Tabor, were even after the 500 mark until Andover and Tabor crashed oars under the bridge. Exeter benefited from the collision and quickly gained four seats on Andover and Tabor. Fortunately, Andover recuperated quickly and resisted any further attempts by Exeter to advance its lead. Andover retaliated against the setback with a power ten that brought them a seat ahead of Exeter. At the thousand meter mark, Andover took another move to secure its lead by four seats. With a minute left, Andover kicked in its final 40-stroke sprint and surged passed Exeter, winning by over a half a boat length. The girls’ second boat was tied with Exeter off the starting line, losing Tabor within the first twenty strokes. At the 500 meter mark, Exeter presented a power ten strokes to pull ahead, and continued to expand its lead until it had open water on Andover. Andover struck back to bridge the gap between the two boats, but maintained a boat-length behind Exeter throughout the remainder of the race. Andover finished second to Exeter, and beat Tabor by over 17 seconds. The boys’ first boat began its race with a quick start. As the three teams entered the body of the race around the 500 meter mark, Andover and Tabor split away from Exeter. Andover made an early move about two minutes into the race and passed Tabor. Andover held a boat-length lead throughout the rest of the race and won by over three seconds. In the boys’ second boat race, Exeter split from the pack at the start and maintained a four-seat lead until the 500 meter mark. Andover made its move and passed Exeter, lengthening its lead until it was an entire boat-length ahead of Exeter. Andover won by three seats over Exeter, and beat Tabor by over 23 seconds. Despite the victory, Curtis Hon ’10 said, “The boat felt really rushed. Our rating was up to 44 after the start and we settled to a 36. Our comfort rating is much lower, around a 34.” He continued, “The slight tailwind certainly affected the speed of our slide and stroke rating, but nonetheless, it is something we need to work on.” The girls’ and boys’ first three boats will travel to Northfield Mount Hermon this Saturday to race Andover’s last dual meet of the season before Interschols.
