Boys Crew Sports Spring Sports

Boys Crew: Tailwind Leads to Mixed Results

Andover Boys Crew journeyed to Connecticut on Saturday to compete in a double dual against the crew teams from Salisbury School, Boston College (BC) High School and Brunswick School. The sunny skies on Lake Washinee on Saturday were deceiving, for high swirling winds and the rough waves created harsh racing conditions. The race course was straight, but the tailwinds made it difficult for boats to stay in their lanes, leading to mixed results for B1, B2 and B3.

B1 kicked off the day with a rocky start in the first round against Salisbury. Led by coxswain Jacob Kozol ’15, the boat glided across the race course in 4:24.5, close behind Salisbury in 4:22.3.

With only a short break before the second round against BC High, the rowers amplified their determination in preparation for the next race.

“The first race did not go as we wanted it to, because we weren’t really into it. We did not have the motivation that we needed to win. After the loss to Salisbury, we got really mad at ourselves. We did not drive three hours one way to lose, so we used all of our anger to bring it to BC High. We started out with a high rating start and just walked lengths on them until we crossed the finish line,” said Dylan Norris ’16, B1’s fourth seat.

The crew proved itself by bringing sheer hard work to the table, finishing in 4:25.2 and earning an open water gap between BC High, who finished in 4:35.1.

Coxswain Christina Schoeller ’16 took charge on B2 in the Mytilene boat with Simon Sharp ’15 and Aidan Driscoll ’17 in the stern pair. Following behind them were Diego Blandon ’15, Carter Page ’15, Tora Liu ’16, William Humphrey ’16, Tyler Lian ’16 and Miles Neumann ’15.

B2 fought all the way through the finish line during its first round in 4:37.8, with Salisbury finishing only slightly behind it in 4:38.1. Although the rowers were happy about the win, the race seemed to take up the majority of their energy.

Round two did not end in B2’s favor as it took on the ambitious Brunswick crew. Andover finished in 4:43.8, trailing behind Brunswick with a time of 4:34.1.

Humphrey said, “Despite the conditions, the Mytilene rowed exceptionally well. Beating Salisbury and moving to the finals, we were out-rowed by a strong Brunswick crew. We are all looking forward to getting another chance to beat them.”

B3 took on Salisbury for its first race of the day. The crew strategically rowed at a lower stroke rating than Salisbury in order to conserve energy for its second round. The rowers’ long, unified and powerful strokes put them in the lead at the start of the race up until the finish line, beating out Salisbury with a time of 4:58.7 to Salisbury’s 5:04.4.

Despite its best efforts, B3 struggled through the second round against BC High. BC High quickly took the lead on the start. Not giving in easily, Andover picked up the pace and managed to gain six seats on BC High during the middle of the race.

In a move that surprised Andover, BC High started its sprint with 500 meters to go, an extremely early distance for a crew to begin its final sprint. By the time Andover could react, it was too late, and BC High had taken back those six seats to finish in 4:43.1, with Andover following behind in 4:46.6.

Andover Boys Crew will race on its home water against St. Paul’s and Community Rowing, Inc., this Saturday, hungry for a first place finish.

Editor’s Note: Tyler Lian ’16 is a Commentary Editor for The Phillipian.