Despite the challenge against Deerfield and CRI, Girls Crew maintained its ambition and vigor throughout the races.
Although Girls Crew fell short to Deerfield and Community Rowing Inc. (CRI) in its second race of the season on Saturday, its efforts were characterized by hard work and energy.
The team prepared with intent before its race, focusing on both technical and mental aspects. Caroline Romano ’26 mentioned how working on boat chemistry helped the team control its nerves.
Romano said, “We did prepare pretty well for this meet. We did sprint work on Monday to get prepared for certain aspects of our race. We also talked about things we wanted to work on like boat chemistry and talked about focusing on our race plan and the things that we can control. This definitely helps if anyone is nervous or scared at the start line because we know we only have to focus on what we can do instead of the other teams.”
While going into the race, the team was aware that both Deerfield and CRI had strong boats. However, Romano highlighted this as an opportunity to work on remaining optimistic even in the face of challenging opponents. She noted that it was this mindset that pushed the team to bring its best on Saturday.
“We went into [the race] knowing Deerfield and CRI were both very good teams. We knew that we had to work really hard and bring 110 percent if we wanted to stay in the competition and in contention. It was awesome to see that drive from a boat. For the girls’ side, Deerfield is one of the best teams in the league for Crew, so it’s a privilege to get to race them this early in the season and definitely helps us be optimistic despite the loss,” said Romano.
Despite losing, the Girls’ second boat race was a close race, with Andover finishing in 5:12.1, CRI finishing in 5:11.7, and Deerfield finishing in 5:11.5. Willow Wright ’26 emphasized the excitement that came with such a close race where the first and last place finishers were within just 0.6 seconds of each other.
Wright said “The most notable part was G2 because there was only 0.6 second between the first and third place, so all three boats finished within 0.6 seconds of each other, which is a very small margin. I think that, especially to be in that boat, it was very exciting because we pulled back from a lot in the last final sprint. It was really just an exciting race overall, and in general, we had really strong races throughout the entire team.”
The team was successful in keeping its spirits up throughout the intense races. Lucille Heyd ’26 acknowledged the importance of putting in one’s fullest effort, even if the end result isn’t the desired outcome.
Heyd said “The energy was super hype and we tried to stay very positive and upbeat. We wanted to just control the things we could control because at the end of the day, you put everything out there and even if the results don’t go your way you can at least say you tried your hardest.”
Wright noted that this race also allowed the team to gain a sense of its competition, helping it prepare for the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association championship at the end of the season. Wright also shared that regattas are a good chance for the team to showcase what it’s been working on during practice.
Wright said “Like any regatta, the atmosphere is always very exciting because we have the whole team together and everybody is hyped and ready to go. Everybody is always really pumped up because we get to show off everything that we’ve been working on throughout the week, so it’s exciting to see how everything plays out. Also for the championships at the end of the season, it’s good to get a feel of the other teams and where they are at. I think it was good, everybody was excited and amped up so it was just a fun place to be.”
According to Romano, both G1 and G2 exhibited their respective strengths including an impressive start and a final sprint. Going forward, the team aims to connect different parts of the race together and continue improving throughout the season.
Romano said “This meet has definitely given us a lot to look forward to because we were all very proud of certain aspects of our races. G2’s being their sprint and G1’s being our start and our starting 500 (meters) was very good. We just want to build on that and connect different parts of the race together for the rest of the season. We are definitely all looking forward to future races, so we just need to keep improving.”
Girls Crew will compete against Hanover and Bedford on Saturday.
