Robert Bredvad

Standing on a bridge 20 feet above the water, the shouts of the coxswains were audible as boats passed below. Dozens lined both rails of the bridge, and even more stood by the riverbanks. Winter jackets hid school colors as cold figures braced against the breeze of Saturday, October 11, but there was plenty of spirit in the air at the head of the Genesee Regatta.

The daylong event was broken into two parts. In the morning, there were head races, 5,000 meter long tests of endurance. In the afternoon there were sprint races, shorter 1,500 meter high-speed contests. During these races, boats did not race directly against each another; instead, their times were compared at the end.

Time trial sprints have two boats start simultaneously, which can help or hinder pacing depending on who you start with. For these races, the times were multiplied by three and added to the head race times, producing the overall score. Thus, while performing well in the head races is necessary, sprint times can make or break a team’s chances at moving up in the rankings.

Robert Bredvad

During the first half of the race, RIT made a strong showing, with the men’s novice eight going as far as taking home third place. Jim Bodenstedt, coach of the men’s crew team, was pleased with the results. RIT may not have finished first, but “the boats [were] in a good position to move up in the standings in the afternoon,” he said. Coach Freddy Yust of the women’s crew team had similar feelings about their performance in the head races. “The morning went well for all boats,” she said, making special note of the women’s novice eight, many of which were racing their first college level regatta.

Robert Bredvad

The afternoon featured solid racing. Hopes were high when the team was questioned, “What is it going to take to win?” Their reply: “Heart and enthusiasm!”

For the sprints, the men’s Varsity team was paired up with Hobart, their main rivals. They railed by seven seconds, finishing the sprint with a time of 4:34.28. The men’s Junior Varsity (JV) team, also paired with Hobart, managed to beat them to the finish by four seconds, with a time of 4:35.52. The women’s Varsity 8, meanwhile, was paired with SUNY Buffalo and squeaked out a win with just over a second, finishing with a time of 5:15.12. The women’s Varsity 4 finished their sprint with a time of 6:08.76, giving them time to spare against their D’Youville College from Buffalo.

At the end of the day, the men’s Varsity 8 came in fourth in the collegiate division, and the JV boat placed eighth. The women’s Varsity 8 finished ninth overall in the collegiate division, while the Varsity 4 placed fifth out of the total of six boats in their competition.

Robert Bredvad

In spite of no spectacular first place wins, the coaches seemed happy about their teams’ performances at the regatta. Coach Yust said that she “[felt] good about [her team’s] standing so far in the season,” and that they will be working hard to get ready for their next event, the Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga October 24-25.

Coach Bodenstedt mentioned that there had been problems with their skeg (part of the stern of the boat) and some weeds at their last event. He was happy to report, however, that there were “no technical difficulties this week,” and that they had a good day overall. The men’s team will be heading to the famous Head of the Charles regatta in Boston on October 17.