Andover’s First Boat improved its record to 14-2 on Saturday, with victories against both Exeter and Tabor. All three schools showed up to the Merrimack that day ready to race, despite to the torrential rain and strong headwinds. After the christening of the new boys’ boat, the Lone Star, the Boys First Boat race was set to begin. Off the start, the Tabor crew got an early lead on both Andover and Exeter, but all boats maintained their composure. At the halfway point, it was still Tabor leading the pack by nearly a length, with Exeter close behind, and Andover trailing by a few seats. At no point did winning the race ever seem unattainable. With 500 meters to go, Tabor had over a boat length lead on Exeter, and Exeter had a half a length on Andover. That is when Andover really started to move. With unwavering resolve, the boys began this last portion of the race knowing they were capable of crossing the finish line first, and surely enough the boat surged forward when they started their sprint. They proceeded to walk right through both crews who were clearly ahead of them before. With less than 100 meters to go, Andover walked up a few seats on Tabor and kept that lead, pulling out an incredible come-from-behind victory. The finish was close, with less than two seconds separating the three crews. Andover beat Tabor by .8 seconds and Exeter by 1.4 seconds. Unfortunately, the B2 race did not yield such good results. At the race at Lake Quinsigamond earlier in the season, the Second Boat lost to Exeter by eight seconds, so they went into the race with the motivation of revenge. Unfortunately, the Exeter crew was quick off the line, and maintained and built on its lead throughout the whole race. With 1000 meters down, the race already seemed out of grasp. Despite a technically sound race, the power was not there for them. They finished more than ten seconds behind the Exeter crew. However, they finished another ten seconds ahead of Tabor. Now, the boys can only look ahead and try to improve. Second Boat coxswain Mia Kanak ’06 commented, “Off the start, we were down on both Tabor and Exeter, but when we made our move through the bridge at 500 meters, we got back into a competitive position. Unfortunately, Exeter just kept building on their lead. We’re looking ahead, and we have two weeks left to work hard for Interschols.” Both crews have been stuck with dry-land training on the ergometers for most of this past week due to the flooding of the Merrimack. None of the oarsmen seemed fazed however; it appears to merely fuel their desire. A race against NMH is scheduled for tomorrow but may be cancelled. As the final week of the season fast approaches, Geoff Martin ’07 commented, “We have had a pretty successful season. However, all of our successes, and failures, are meaningless next weekend. At Interschols, all we can do is pull until we pass out. We intend to race hard, and we intend to win.” The New England Interscholastic Rowing Championships, Interschols, will be held at Lake Quinsigamond next Saturday, May 27th.
